Why No One Can Agree What’s REALLY the Tallest Mountain

Summary

This video explores the complexities of measuring mountains, specifically focusing on Mount Everest. While Everest is often considered the tallest, the video explains how mountain heights depend on how we define their base and peak. The Earth's uneven shape and constantly moving tectonic plates make accurate measurements tricky. Comparisons are made between Everest, Mauna Kea, Chimborazo, and extraterrestrial mountains like Olympus Mons. The video highlights that Everest may not always hold the title of the tallest, depending on the measurement method used. It also touches on modern technology like GPS and its challenges in precise measurements.

Takeaways

• 🗻 Mount Everest is located between Nepal and Tibet and reaches a height of 8,848.86 meters, but measuring its exact height is challenging.
• ❄️ Temperatures at the summit of Everest can drop to -60°C, and the air has only one-third of the oxygen humans need to survive.
• 📏 Measuring mountains depends on how we define their height, and Earth's constantly shifting crust makes precise measurements difficult.
• 🌍 Mountains are formed by tectonic plate movements, either through collisions, separations, or volcanic activity, which all affect their height over time.
• 🛠️ The Himalayan mountain range, including Everest, formed from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, a process that continues today.
• 🌋 Extraterrestrial mountains, such as Olympus Mons on Mars, can be much taller than Earth's mountains due to different geological processes.
• ⏳ Erosion, earthquakes, and Earth's tectonic activity continuously shape and sometimes reduce the height of mountains.
• 🔝 Everest is not the tallest mountain by all measures. If measured from base to summit, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller, and Chimborazo in Ecuador is farther from the Earth's center.
• 📡 GPS and satellite measurements provide useful data but have limitations due to Earth's irregular shape and gravitational differences.
• 🧠 Everest retains the title of tallest mountain by sea level measurement, but different criteria can change which peak is considered the 'tallest'.

Q & A

Why is Mount Everest known as the highest point on Earth?

Mount Everest is considered the highest point on Earth because it is measured from sea level, with a height of 8,848.86 meters. However, its height can vary due to tectonic activity and other natural processes.

What challenges arise when measuring the height of a mountain?

Measuring the height of a mountain is challenging because Earth is not perfectly round, the crust moves, and there are no universally accepted rules for defining a mountain. Factors like tectonic activity, erosion, and gravity variations complicate accurate measurements.

Why was Mount Chimborazo once considered the tallest mountain?

Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador was considered the tallest mountain in the 18th century because it is the point on Earth farthest from the planet's center. Even though its elevation is lower than Everest, Chimborazo’s location on the Earth's bulge near the equator gives it this distinction.

How do tectonic plates contribute to mountain formation?

Tectonic plates interact by bumping, grinding, or spreading apart, which leads to mountain formation. This can happen through collisions, where rock is crumpled and pushed upwards, or through volcanic activity when molten rock from the mantle rises to the surface.

Why can’t Earth mountains grow as tall as extraterrestrial mountains?

Earth mountains can't grow as tall as those on other planets because the processes that form them are also strong enough to erode and destroy them. Additionally, the Earth’s crust essentially floats on molten rock, meaning mountains that grow too heavy will start sinking.

How does tectonic activity affect Mount Everest's height?

Mount Everest continues to grow each year due to the ongoing collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, which pushes the mountain upwards. However, events like earthquakes can also cause the mountain to lose height temporarily, as seen in the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

What makes Mauna Kea taller than Mount Everest when measured from base to summit?

Mauna Kea is actually taller than Mount Everest when measured from its base at the bottom of the ocean to its summit. While only about 4,200 meters of Mauna Kea are visible above water, the entire mountain is over 10,000 meters tall from base to summit.

Why is it difficult to use sea level as a standard for measuring mountain height?

Sea level isn't truly level due to variations in Earth's gravity and rotation, which create hills and valleys in sea level. Scientists create a 'mean sea level' to account for these differences, but it still complicates efforts to measure mountain heights precisely.

Why isn't Mount Everest the farthest point from the center of the Earth?

Mount Everest is not the farthest point from the Earth's center because the Earth bulges at the equator. Mount Chimborazo, located closer to the equator, is farther from the Earth's center despite being shorter in elevation compared to Everest.

How can GPS measurements of mountains still be problematic?

While GPS and satellites can accurately measure the distance from a mountain’s summit, they still face issues in determining the base because Earth is not perfectly spherical. Different models like the ellipsoid are used, but they do not account for all variations in Earth's gravity and sea level.