Earth's geography includes several elements with distinct characteristics. Lakes and mountains are part of it, and they offer spectacular views. They have many differentiating features such as height, shape, size, location, etc., and these features determine the ecosystems sustained by them.
In a very brief definition, mountains are characterized as landforms rising well above the surroundings. They cover 3% of Africa, 17% of Australia, 22% of South America, 25% of Europe, 36% of North America, and 54% of Asia. As we can see, most mountains are located in the northern hemisphere. In addition, an important characteristic of mountains is that they are the originating source of most of rivers. According to its location, a specific biome is formed. Mountains near the poles usually have glacial lakes, and this forms the basis to its unique ecosystem. Also, flora and fauna are adapted to climatic zone in tall mountains.
There are several types of mountains. They can be volcanic mountains (for example, volcanic cones, cryovolcanos, lava domes, etc.), glacial mountains (aretes - thin ridges of rocks, glacial horn, etc.), fold and fault-block mountains, which are formed by folding or faulting of Earth's crust or by collisions of continental plates (such as the Himalayas), and monadnocks or inselbergs. Mountains can also be classified according to the types of rocks they are consisted of: igneous (solidification of magma), metamorphic (transformation of pre-existing rocks), and sedimentary (formed by sediments). The highest mountain in the world is the Everest, but the Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, has the peak that rises the farthest from its base, which is in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Lakes are the other topographic formation mentioned here. As it is with mountains, most of the lakes on Earth are located in the northern hemisphere. The majority is consisted of freshwater, and over 60% of all lakes are situated in Canada. Finland also has a great amount of lakes: 187,888 lakes of which 60,000 are large lakes. Most lakes in the world have a natural outflow in form of a stream or river, and many are artificially constructed for several purposes: industrial and agricultural use, domestic water supply, hydro-electric power plants, or simply for recreation.
There are several types of lakes: periglacial (part of the lake's margin is an ice cap, glacier, or ice sheet), subglacial (permanently covered by ice, such as Lake Vostok in Antarctica), glacial (the origin is a melted glacier), artificial, endorheic (also called terminal or closed because it has no significant outflow), meromictic (when lake has layers of water that do not mix), fjord lake, oxbow lake, rift lake, underground lake, crater lake, former lake (no longer exist), shrunken lake, and eolic lake. The Lake Baikal in Siberia and the Tanganyika in Tanzania are the two oldest and deepest lakes in the world.
All in all, this is just a quick overview of the main characteristics of lakes and mountains. But they are much more than just geographic formations; they are part of several Earth's biomes. Apart from that, they provide us dazzling views and marvelous landscapes with their contrasts according to where they are located in the planet.
Lucien Oliveira is a freelance writer with strong interest nature, environment and earth conservation issues. You can find more on lakes and mountains. Read more about lakes mountains and earth conservation.
