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World map depicting elevation of the Earth's land surface above sea level.

Mountains

Mountains are in general a much tougher place to life than equivalent lowland habitats, partly due to the lower temperatures and harsher weather. At very high altitudes there is also less oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air, making life difficult for both animals and plants. Soils are thin or non-existent on steep mountain slopes, which restricts the types of plants that can grow. The uppermost slopes of the tallest mountains may be completely barren of plant-life.

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Where you find Mountains

Map showing the location of the Mountains habitat

About Mountains

A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism. These forces can locally raise the surface of the earth by over 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, and glaciers. A few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges.

High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level. These colder climates strongly affect the ecosystem of mountains: different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, such as mountain climbing.

The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,849.868 m (29,035 ft) above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m (69,459 ft).

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Habitats

Other Terrestrial habitats

BBC News about Mountains

Video collections

Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.

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    Some of the most memorable sequences in natural history result from timelapse photography, an astonishing filming technique that opens our eyes to a whole new world.

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    Narrated by Sir David Attenborough Planet Earth was the ground-breaking series that explored the wild and beautiful parts of our planet like never before.

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