Lets say in the tropical belt and mountain building. One day that mountain must have reached a height where the cloud formation reach a threshold, condensating and releasing the burden? There surely must be some data from present day systems on what height a mountain need to reach to influence precipitation? Thanks in advance. Vivi
Even very small mountains distinctly influence precipitation. See the map of yearly precipitation in Poland:
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Polska_opad_roczny.png
with an area of increased precipitation values in central Poland (near Kielce). This corresponds to the Holy Cross Mountains, the highest summit of which is ca. 600 m above sea level, only ca. 400 m of relative height. In northeastern Poland, east of Gdansk, you have hills (Elblag Hills) less than 200 m high and they also correspond to a distinct local maximum of precipitation (ca. 700 m compared to ca. 550 m in the lowland only 20 km further).
Yes, there is normally always a marked topographical influence. However, it depends often also on lee-ward or wind-ward side of the mountain.
Please see the links
https://books.google.dz/books?isbn=2880748356
www.persee.fr/doc/rga_0035-1121_1984_num_72_2_2566
If I remember correctly, Harry Hess calculated the volumes and transport of sediments eroded from the Appalachian Mountain chain to the Atlantic sea-bed before he and Bob Diez began advocating sea-floor spreading. Bob Diez told me about this many decades ago. I would be surprised if Harry Hess did not put the erosion and sediment transport from the Appalachians in relation to the climate and precipitation of material into the sea of that time.
Hello
Accordingly to literature on orographic relief, mountains have influence in the levels and types of rainfall. Windward is the phenomenon associated to air rising - when hot air finds the mountain barrier, it condensates and there is precipitation as consequence.
Maybe it can help:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pinhas_Alpert/publication/249605854_Mesoscale_Indexing_of_the_Distribution_of_Orographic_Precipitation_over_High_Mountains/links/00b4951efab9ce66dc000000.pdf
Best regards.
Article Mesoscale Indexing of the Distribution of Orographic Precipi...
Here you have an example of altitudinal effects:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222087114_Spatial_and_Temporal_Scales_in_Rainfall_Analysis-Some_Aspects_and_Future_Perspectives
best
Article Spatial and Temporal Scales in Rainfall Analysis-Some Aspect...
The amount of precipitations in Central Asia is determined by geographical position of the area. From plains to foothills there is more of precipitation. The annual precipitation in the plain territories (lowland and valleys) is between 80-200 mm, concentrated in the winter and spring, while in the foothills precipitation is between 300-400 mm, and on the southern and south-western sides of the mountains ranges between 600-1000 mm and more.
From field experience, in the intertropical zone, even 100-200 m can make a difference when in a coastal plain; in moutain area of course it is not that significant, but the relationship is complicated by tens of other parameters (slope, occurence of large water bodies nearby, main wind direction, type of vegetation, etc.)
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