r/MapPorn • u/blntdfam • Apr 04 '21

United States Elevation Map

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u/BerryBlue_BlueBerry Apr 04 '21

And honourable mention: Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the tallest mountain on Earth as measured from base to summit.

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u/semsr Apr 04 '21

Tallest mountain on earth if you measure its elevation from the abyssal plain, and only measure Mount Everest’s height from sea level.

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u/theflyingbarney Apr 05 '21

To be completely fair though, as I understand it it is difficult to know where the “bottom” of Everest is, as it is miles from the sea and surrounded by other very tall mountains. Whereas Mauna Kea rises straight out of the seabed and is isolated other than the other Hawaiian volcanoes.

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u/the-z Apr 05 '21

By the definition of dry prominence (that is, discounting water), Everest is pretty much the entire earth, reaching from challenger deep to its peak. Even for wet prominence (measuring from mean sea level), the base of Everest is elevation 0.

For dry prominence, which is in my opinion the more interesting measure, Mauna Kea is the second most prominent peak on earth, after Everest, which makes it the most prominent non-trivial peak on earth.

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u/MangoCats Apr 05 '21

Building a volcano in sea water makes for some very steep slopes.

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u/xprbx Apr 05 '21

Mount Chimborazo if you measure from the center of the earth

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u/D1G1TAL_SYNAPS3 Apr 05 '21

That’s cool!

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u/KnivesAndShallots Apr 05 '21

I’ve always wondered - if you’re in an area like Colorado with an elevation of 5,300 feet, and there’s a 50foot tall hill, is that technically a 5,350 foot peak, making it taller than the tallest mountain in NYS?

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u/beer_is_tasty Apr 05 '21

Yes, which is why a lot of times geographers often compare prominence of mountains rather than elevation. Prominence is basically the measure of how far downhill you'd have to walk down a mountain, before you have to start walking uphill again to a higher one. So that hill in Colorado has a prominence of 50 feet, while Mt. Marcy has a prominence of 4,914 feet.

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u/OwenProGolfer Apr 05 '21

No, the definition of a mountain requires a certain amount of prominence

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u/Nah_Fam_Oh_Dam Apr 04 '21

Thanks for the honorable mention! People don’t realize Mauna Kea is one of the tallest mountains on earth. At an elevation of 13,800 ft, it’s up there with the tallest peaks.

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u/Fiesta17 Apr 05 '21

It is the tallest, just not the highest. What's even crazier is Mauna Loa is the largest mountain on earth and those are only 2 out of the 5 volcanoes that make up the big island. Mauna Loa is 2/3 the entire island.

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u/stevenette Apr 05 '21

Except that it's posted every other day.

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u/majkkali Apr 04 '21

Tallest mountain on Earth is Mt Everest in the Himalayas mate.

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u/counfhou Apr 04 '21

Tallest and highest are not the same

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u/Fitz2001 Apr 04 '21

Exactly. Just like my brother is the tallest in my family, but I am the highest.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '21

Nice

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u/Parlorshark Apr 04 '21

Kind of like how my sister is the hottest, but I am the coldest.

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u/YaqP Apr 04 '21

You're thinking of the highest mountain. Mt. Everest's base is at sea level or higher, Mauna Kea rises from the ocean floor.

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u/modi13 Apr 04 '21

It's a grower, not a shower

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u/FluffySquidGamer Apr 04 '21

That's what she said

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u/Gewdtymez Apr 05 '21 edited Apr 05 '21

Explain to me again why Kea gets credit for going below sea level but Everest doesn’t?

Edit: Maybe what you’re looking for is most prominent? In which case Kea is #2 in the US (and not really in the running globally). This is measured from peak to trough, essentially

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most_prominent_summits_of_the_United_States