Highest mountain

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Mount Everest

For mountains there are different approaches depending on the point of view and the reference system , one of which can be described as the highest mountain .

Highest mountain on earth

Highest mountain measured from the surface of the sea

Mount Everest (Chomolungma) is generally referred to as the highest mountain above sea level and thus the highest mountain on earth . The peak is 8848  m above sea ​​level , making it the highest peak above the sea . Besides Mount Everest, 13 other mountains surpass the 8000 meter mark.

Item summit Height above sea level
in m
Mountains country
1. Mount Everest (Tibet. Chomolungma, Nepal. Sagarmatha) 000000000008848.00000000008,848 Himalayas Nepal , China ( Tibet )
2. K2 (Chinese Qogir) 000000000008611.00000000008,611 Karakoram Pakistan , China ( Xinjiang )
3. Kangchenjunga (Kangchenjunga) 000000000008586.00000000008,586 Himalayas India ( Sikkim ), Nepal
4th Lhotse 000000000008516.00000000008,516 Himalayas Nepal, China (Tibet)
5. Makalu 000000000008485.00000000008,485 Himalayas Nepal, China (Tibet)

The 187 highest mountains on earth are in Asia. The highest non-Asian mountain is the Aconcagua , with 6961  m the highest mountain in South America .

Highest mountain, measured from the center of the earth

Chimborazo

If you take the center of the earth as a reference point , the Chimborazo in Ecuador exceeds Mount Everest (6382.414 km) with 6384.557 km by more than two kilometers and is the point of the geocentric maximum distance .

The difference results from the fact that the shape of the earth (see also: Geoid ) approaches an ellipsoid of revolution due to the rotation and the resulting centrifugal force , the radius of which is smaller at the poles (6356.752 km) and smaller at the equator (6378.137 km ) is larger compared to the radius of an ideal sphere of the same volume. The difference between the diameter of the earth at the poles and at the equator is therefore around 43 km.

According to this measurement method, Mount Everest even has to be content with sixth place in the ranking, since the Himalayas are relatively far north (29 ° north latitude). There are still more five and six thousanders in the Central American Andes and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in Africa in front of the 14 eight-thousanders in the Asian mountain range.

Item mountain Height above the
center of the earth
in m
Height above sea level
in m
1. Chimborazo 000000006384557.00000000006,384,557 000000000006267.00000000006.267
2. Nevado Huascarán 000000006384552.00000000006,384,552 000000000006768.00000000006,768
3. Cotopaxi 000000006384190.00000000006,384,190 000000000005897.00000000005,897
4th Kilimanjaro 000000006384134.00000000006,384,134 000000000005895.00000000005,895
5. Cayambe 000000006384094.00000000006,384,094 000000000005796.00000000005,796
6th Mount Everest 000000006382414.00000000006,382,414 000000000008848.00000000008,848

Highest mountain, measured from the base of the mountain (submarine)

Satellite image of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa

If you take the base of a mountain as a reference, Mauna Kea is the highest point in the world. Most of the mountain is below sea level. The island of Hawaii , formed by Mauna Kea and its neighbor Mauna Loa , can also be seen as the largest mountain in the world in terms of rock mass .

Item mountain Height above sea level
in m
Height above sea floor
in m
1. Mauna Kea 000000000004205.00000000004,205 000000000010203.000000000010,203

Highest mountain, measured from the base of the mountain (mainland)

A list of the mountains that rise most immediately above their surroundings would lead to interesting results. However, data that can be used for this are difficult to obtain because the exact height at the lowest point of the foot of a mountain can often only be determined imprecisely. What is certain, however, is that Mount Everest is by no means right at the top of these statistics : Although it rises around 3500 meters above its immediate surroundings (ie, it “rises 3500 m from the relief”), this is in comparison to numerous other mountain figures is little. The mountains that rise farthest from their surroundings include:

  • The Rakaposhi in Pakistan : its north face falls in one go, without side valleys and porches, within 12 km horizontal distance, 5980 meters in altitude to the Hunza valley.
  • The Damâvand in Iran : Despite its "low" height of 5604  m on its northeast side, it rises up to 4700 meters above its immediate surroundings and is thus one of the "highest" mountains in the world.
  • The Mount St. Elias in Alaska : A source called the Mount St. Elias as the - in this respect - the highest mountain in the world, since it 5489  m high and located only 16 km drive from the coast.
  • The Pico Cristóbal Colón and the Pico Simón Bolívar in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia : The two peaks, approx. 3 km apart, are 5775 meters high and 45 km from the Caribbean coast. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is thus the highest coastal mountain range in the world.
  • The Nanga Parbat in Pakistan : One of the examples with high relief energy is the Nanga Parbat, which rises with its 8125 meters above its Rakhiot flank almost 7000 meters above the semi-desert valley of the upper Indus at a distance of only about 27 kilometers.
  • The Kilimanjaro : He is often considered the highest freestanding mountain in the world , respectively. Its main peak, the Kibo with its 5895  m , rises over 4000 m from the Massai steppe . The next neighboring mountains of a similar stature are the significantly lower Mount Kenya with 5199  m at a distance of over 300 km and the even lower Mount Meru with 4562  m at approx. 65 km away.

Highest mountain, measured by its dominance

The distance to the next higher mountain is called its topographical dominance , a measure of how free-standing it is. The Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world; it is not overlooked at all and its dominance is therefore defined as non-existent or infinite or provisionally indicated with the circumference of the earth over the poles.

Item mountain height Mountains Dominance Next higher mountain
1. Mount Everest 8,848 m Himalayas
2. Aconcagua 6,961 m To the 16,518 km Tirich me
3. Denali 6,190 m Alaska chain 7,450 km Yanamax
4th Kibo 5,895 m Kilimanjaro massif 5,510 km Cow-e Shashgal
5. Carstensz pyramid 4,884 m Maoke Mountains 5,235 km Yulong Xueshan
6th Mount Vinson 4,892 m Ellsworth Mountains 4,911 km Risco Plateado
7th Mont Orohena 2,241 m 4,128 km Ngauruhoe
8th. Mauna Kea 4,205 m 3,947 km Mount Shasta
9. Gunnbjørns Fjeld 3,694 m Watkins Mountains 3,254 km Wetterhorn
10. Aoraki / Mount Cook 3,724 m New Zealand Alps 3,139 km Mount Adam

Highest mountain, measured by its notch height

The notch height of a summit (also known as topographical prominence ) indicates the difference in height between a mountain peak and the highest notch over which a higher peak can be reached. This definition implies that the notch height of the highest peak on a continental landmass is identical to its height, since one has to descend from it to the sea in order to then reach a higher peak on another continent, assuming there is on another continent a higher peak. The topographically "most prominent" peaks on earth are the following:

Item mountain Notch height continent Dominance
1. Mount Everest 10,000- Asia 20000-
2. Aconcagua 000000000006961.00000000006,961 m South America 000000000016520.000000000016,520 km
3. Denali (Mount McKinley) 000000000006143.00000000006,143 m North America 000000000007451.00000000007,451 km
4th Kibo 000000000005882.00000000005,882 m Africa 000000000005562.00000000005,562 km
5. Pico Cristóbal Colón 000000000005585.00000000005,585 m South America 000000000001288.00000000001,288 km
6th Mount Logan 000000000005247.00000000005,247 m North America 000000000000623.0000000000623 km
7th Pico de Orizaba 000000000004922.00000000004,922 m North America 000000000002687.00000000002,687 km
8th. Vinson massif 000000000004892.00000000004,892 m Antarctic 000000000004932.00000000004,932 km
9. Puncak Jaya 000000000004884.00000000004,884 m Oceania 000000000005268.00000000005,268 km
10. Elbrus 000000000004741.00000000004,741 m Asia / Europe 000000000002473.00000000002,473 km

Chronicle of the highest mountains on earth

In the historical development of geography in Europe there have been different speculations as to which is the highest mountain on earth. In ancient Greece, Olympus (2917 m) was considered the highest point on earth. The discovery of a huge, snow-covered mountain in Africa (probably Kilimanjaro ) by Ptolemy around 100 AD did not change anything in the Greek view of the world with Olympus as the highest mountain.

Many peoples also considered a mountain that was sacred to them to be the highest mountain in the world. The Jewish people of the Samaritans considered their holy mountain Garizim (865 m) to be the center and highest mountain on earth.

The Thesaurus Geographicus: A New Body of Geography; or, A Compleat Description of the Earth from 1695 names El Pico del Teide (3718 m) on Tenerife as the world's highest mountain. Later, the Chimborazo (6267 m) was considered the highest mountain and the Andes as the highest mountain range on earth. However, the Teide was still considered the largest mountain in the Old World, as the Himalayas were long believed to be a chain of volcanoes (the snowdrifts and clouds were interpreted as smoke) and Kilimanjaro had not yet been (re) discovered. As early as 1784, the British lawyer Sir William Jones tried in vain to prove that the Himalayas were the highest mountains in the world. In 1809, Lieutenant William Spencer Webb and Captain John Hodgson measured the Dhaulagiri at 8,190 m (actually 8,167 m). It was therefore the highest mountain in the world and the first eight-thousander . For the next thirty years it also remained the highest mountain in the world for geography, as it was not yet possible to penetrate further into the Himalayan mountains.

Around 1840, the Kangchenjunga , actually the third highest mountain on earth, was measured as part of the Great Trigonometrical Survey , and was then considered the highest mountain on earth for a decade.

In 1849 the first measurements showed that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, initially called Peak XV . This was officially recognized by the Royal Geographical Society in 1856, and in 1857 the mountain was named Mount Everest in honor of George Everest , longtime head of the Great Trigonometrical Survey , by his successor Andrew Scott Waugh , because "it cannot be determined with certainty from a great distance was what the local people call the mountain ". At that time, experts did not rule out the possibility that there might be even higher, as yet undiscovered mountains.

In Meyers Konversationslexikon from 1888 it says “… rises in Gaurisankar [proper. Mount Everest] in Bhutan, the highest known peak of the E., up to 8839 m ... “. In Germany, among other places, Mount Everest was still named until 1903 with the incorrectly assumed name " Gaurisankar ". This was based on a mistake made by the German Himalayan researcher Hermann von Schlagintweit , who, while searching for Peak XV (Mount Everest), which has just become known as the highest mountain in the world, saw a peak towering over everything. He found out his name from the locals, namely Gauri Sankar, and published it under the false assumption that he had observed the highest mountain in the world. The actual original name of Mount Everest is in Nepali सगरमाथा Sagarmatha (“forehead of heaven”) and in Tibetan ཇོ་ མོ་ གླང་ མ Jo mo glang ma or Qomolangma (“mother of the universe”), in the old German transcription Tschomolungma .

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was still believed that the Tibetan region of Amdo might have an even higher mountain. At that time it was forbidden to enter this (sacred) region.

Surname Mountains Height in m Year of appointment
Mount Everest Himalayas 000000000008848.00000000008,848 1856
Kangchenjunga Himalayas 000000000008586.00000000008,586 around 1838
Dhaulagiri Himalayas 000000000008167.00000000008,167 1809
Chimborazo To the 000000000006263.00000000006.263 around 18th century
Pico del Teide   000000000003717.00000000003,717 17th century

Highest mountain in the history of the earth

There were several geological mountain formations : e.g. the Alpidian orogeny , Variscan orogeny , Caledonian orogeny and the Cadomian orogeny . About 440 to 480 million years ago (the time of the Caledonian orogeny ) the Caledonid-Appalachian Mountains held the record - at that time, it screwed up into the sky over ten kilometers - the result of a huge plate collision . The Caledonids-Appalachian Mountains stretched from northern Scandinavia across the British Isles to the east coast of North America to Alabama, 7500 kilometers long and 500 kilometers wide. Since then, the prehistoric mountains have been torn apart and eroded by tectonic processes and erosion. Remnants of the former roof of the world can be found in Scotland. The Grampian Mountains belong to this rump mountain range as well as the Appalachian Mountains, a low mountain range in the east of the USA. Today's Urals were once part of a very high mountain range.

Highest mountain in the solar system

The largest and highest known mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars . This shield volcano reaches a height of 22 km above the mean level of Mars and of 26 kilometers compared to the surrounding Martian surface with a diameter of over 600 kilometers. At the edges of the mountain, up to six kilometers high demolition edges have emerged. The crater at its summit is 80 kilometers in diameter. The cause of the height of the Martian volcanoes is assumed to be an increased eruption activity compared to Earth and an influence of the lower gravitational pull.

At 22 km, the central mountain of the Rheasilvia crater on the asteroid Vesta reaches a similar height (measured against the level of the surrounding area).

Overviews: highest mountain ...

... by mountains

List of the largest mountains on earth , with the highest peak

... by state

List of highest points by country

... in alpinism

... by continent

Seven Summits , the name for the highest points on the seven continents

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mountains. Highest Points on Earth. National Geographic, accessed January 14, 2014 .
  2. First climber of Gasherbrum I died. In: Salzburg-Magazin on orf.at. Retrieved November 30, 2017 .
  3. Mount St. Elias in the English language Wikipedia
  4. List of mountains over 1000 km of dominance, www.peakbagger.com, accessed on September 14, 2018
  5. List of the 50 most prominent mountains on earth, www.peaklist.org, accessed on November 14, 2009
  6. ^ Johann Günther Friedrich Cannabich : Textbook of geography according to the latest peace provisions. Sondershausen 1821 [1] , p. 26
  7. Andrew Waugh: Letter to the Royal Geographical Society dated March 1, 1856 . In: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, no.IX. P. 345. (Digitized on GoogleBooks)
  8. Olympus Mons: Spectacular series of images from the largest volcano in our solar system on the esa Germany website , accessed on January 12, 2011
  9. Olympus Mons on NASA's Mars Exploration Program pages , accessed January 12, 2011
  10. New View of Vesta Mountain from NASA's Dawn Mission on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory website ( memento of the original from October 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed March 25, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / dawn.jpl.nasa.gov