What is a mountain?
Mountains are areas of land that are much higher than the land around them.
There are many mountains across the UK.
Watch: Learn about the tallest mountains in the UK
Find out more about the tallest mountains in the UK.
Everyone likes a challenge and getting to the top of a mountain in this weather must be one of the most breathtaking in more waysthan one.
My name's Seren and today I'm exploring the UK's tallest mountains. I'm in Wales on my way up a mountain called Pen Y Fan, which is Welsh for top spot. And it really is.
It's the tallest mountain in a row or range of mountains called the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. This is what it looks like on a sunny day.
A mountain is an enormous rocky bit of land with steep sides that tower above the landscape around it, usually with a clear tip at thetop called a peak.
Pen Y Fan is 886 metres above sea level. Slieve Donard is the tallest mountain in Northern Ireland and it's 850metres tall. The tallest mountains in England are in the Lake District and the tallest of all is Scafell Pike, at 978 metres.
The tallest mountain in Wales is called Yr Wyddfa, but most people know it by its English name, Snowdon. It's an impressive 1,085metres tall.
But if you're really into mountains, you need to go to Scotland, where you'll find the tallest mountain in the UK: BenNevis, which is a mighty 1,345 metres above sea level.
But why are the mountains here? How were they made?
There were times called ice ages, when the whole of the UK was covered in gigantic sheets of ice called glaciers.
When they started to melt, they slid slowly across the land and their enormous weight carved away the softer rock, leaving the harder rock behind: the mountains. The last ice age ended about 12,000 years ago.
And these days the main problem for Pen Y Fan is the erosion caused by heavy rainfall and the hundreds of thousands of boots tramping up and down it every year. So always keep to the paths.
I hope you come here, or find the closest mountain to you and challenge yourself to reach the top.
But, maybe wait for better weather.
The tallest mountains
Some of the highest mountains of the UK are found in Scotland. The tallest mountain in the UK is Ben Nevis, which is 1345 metres high.
Here are the tallest mountains in the UK:
Ben Nevis in Scotland
Scafell Pike in England
Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland
Snowdon in Wales
Features of a mountain
All mountains have the following features:
They have a rocky landscape.
They are taller than hills.
They are at least 600 metres high.
They have either rounded or sharp peaks.
Mountains that are close to each other are called mountain ranges.
Mountains are found on every continent and even under the sea.
There's actually thousands of mountains under the sea!
Parts of a mountain
Here are the different parts of a mountain.
The summit is the highest point of a hill or a mountain.
The face is the visible side of the mountain.
The ridge is an elevated crest along the top of the mountain.
The valley is the low area between mountains.
The base is the bottom part of the mountain where it meets the ground.
Types of mountains
There are different types of mountains, depending on the way they were formed. Here are some examples of the types of mountain found in the UK.
Fold mountains
Fold mountains are created by pieces of the Earth’s crust crashing into each other.
These are the tallest mountain ranges in the UK.
Volcanic mountains
A volcanic mountain used to be an A volcano that could erupt. It can start to produce hot lava in the future or is already erupting. .
They are made when Rock that has melted in heat. rocks reach the surface of the Earth, break through and then cool down, turning it solid.
Every time the mountain erupts, new layers of Hot liquid that comes from deep within the Earth. are added. This makes the mountain bigger.
Mountains and people
Mountains are important for people, because they provide jobs, Anything that can be found in nature and used by people. and Activities that people do to relax..
Jobs
Some of the jobs include:
mountain rescue worker
forestry worker
A place where materials such as stone are extracted from the ground. worker
mountain guide
farmer
park ranger
Natural resources
The natural resources that can be found in mountains include:
water
minerals such as iron, gold, quartz or copper
wood
Recreation
These are some of the recreational activities that can take place at a mountain:
skiing
camping
rock climbing
hiking
photography
paragliding
Activities
Quiz: Mountain features
Quiz: UK mountains
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