Feature type

Mountain Range (Montes)

A chain or massif of mountains, whether uplifted by tectonics, thrown up around an impact basin, or built by volcanism — from Venus's Maxwell Montes to the water-ice mountains of Pluto.

In brief

A chain or massif of mountains.

Examples of this feature

Maxwell MontesSurface feature
Venus · ≈ 11 km high
The highest mountains on Venus, rising about 11 km above the mean surface in the northern highlands of Ishtar Terra — higher than Everest above sea level.
Tenzing MontesSurface feature
Pluto · up to ~6 km high
Jagged mountains of water ice rising several kilometres along the edge of Sputnik Planitia on Pluto — water ice is rigid enough at Pluto's temperatures to hold up mountains.

Knowledge connections

Group includesMaxwell Montes
Group includesTenzing Montes

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

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