What actually is a mountain?

Answer 1

Mountains are formed when the land is being pushed up by strong forces in the Earth, such as plate tectonics. Some mountains ar formed by areas being thrust up over other areas; some mountains are volcanoes that have died out, or become extinct. In addition to the last answer, a mountain has to be over 2,000 feet, otherwise it is just a hill. There are many contributing factors that go into the formation of mountains. These can be uplift from plate tectonics, or vulcanism. (A volcano, if it is over 2,000 ft., whether active or otherwise can still be considered a mountain). The major controlling factors of orogeny (mountain building) come after the actual mountain has come about. There must be an equilibrium between uplift and erosion (glacial or fluvial) in order to maintain the mountain, otherwise it would be eroded back to base level (generally considered to be sea level) - "Tectonic aneurism" hypothesis. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill.