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The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as tall, or as steep as a mountain. Geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than 1,000 feet (304.8 meters) above sea level .
Examples are mountains, hills, polar caps, and valleys, which are found on all of the terrestrial planets. The scientific study of landforms is known as geomorphology. In onomastic terminology, toponyms (geographical proper names) of individual landform objects (mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) are called oronyms. [4]
Mountains and hills can be characterized in several ways. Some mountains are volcanoes and can be characterized by the type of lava and eruptive history. Other mountains are shaped by glacial processes and can be characterized by their shape. Finally, many mountains can be characterized by the type of rock that make up their composition.
Col – Lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; Cuesta – Hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side and a steep slope on the other; Dale – Low area between hills, often with a river running through it; Defile – Narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills; Dell – Small secluded hollow
Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain. A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock.Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher than a hill, typically rising at least 300 metres (980 ft) above the surrounding land.
The term col tends to be associated more with mountain, rather than hill, ranges. [4] The height of a summit above its highest saddle (called the key saddle) is effectively a measure of a hill's prominence, an important measure of the independence of its summit. Saddles lie on the line of the watershed between two hills.
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In contrast, flat topped hills with areas as small as 0.1 km 2 (0.039 sq mi) in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Germany, are described as mesas. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Less strictly, a very broad, flat-topped, usually isolated hill or mountain of moderate height bounded on at least one side by a steep cliff or slope and representing an erosion remnant ...