Subhi Agrawal
Mount Everest is acknowledged as the highest mountain globally, with an elevation of 8,849 meters above sea level. It is indeed the tallest when measured this way, but this only refers to its height above sea level.
Taller Than Mount Everest
However, when measuring mountains from their base to peak, Mauna Kea is the tallest, despite having an elevation of only 4,205 meters above sea level, making it taller than Mount Everest in this regard.
Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, with about 6,000 meters of its base submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, accounting for more than half of its total height. When measured from its underwater base to its peak, Mauna Kea exceeds 10,000 meters, making it at least 1,150 meters taller than Mount Everest.
Mauna Kea is the tallest volcano on Earth, formed over a hot spot in the Earth’s crust. It likely remained stationary while magma rose and erupted, allowing the Pacific Plate to move over it, creating its base. As the plate shifted northwestward, it led to the formation of a series of volcanoes in the region.
Mauna Kea is the youngest volcano in the world, having formed around a million years ago. Although it is considered active, its last eruption is believed to have occurred over 45,000 years ago.
The mountain is renowned for hosting the world’s largest astronomical observatory, which benefits from cloud-free skies and a high altitude, creating ideal conditions for stargazing.
Likewise, Mauna Loa, the second-highest mountain in Hawaii, ranks as the second-highest mountain in the world when measured from base to peak. It is also the largest volcano in terms of volume and area.
Neither Mount Everest Nor Mauna Kea Holds The Title Of The Tallest Mountain
When measuring height from the Earth’s center, neither Mount Everest nor Mauna Kea holds the title of the tallest mountain. Instead, Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, with an elevation of 6,310 meters, is considered the highest point in the world.
Although Mount Chimborazo has a lower elevation than Mount Everest and is not the highest peak in the Andes, it is considered the highest point in the world due to its location near the equator. The Earth bulges at the equator, so Chimborazo’s peak is farther from the Earth’s center compared to Everest, making it the highest point when measured from the center of the Earth.
Earth is not a perfect sphere; it is an oblate spheroid, being flatter at the poles and bulging at the equator. Located just one degree south of the equator, Mount Chimborazo is the highest point on the planet, measuring about 3,967 miles from Earth’s core.
Chimborazo is also the closest point to the sun on Earth’s surface, while Mount Everest, located at a latitude of 28 degrees north, does not even rank in the top 20.
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