Earth Science Records

8/10/2019 Earth Science Records

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Earth Records


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Highest Mountain in the WorldMount Everest: The "Highest

Altitude" Almost everyone calls Mount Everest "the highest mountain in the

world" and climbers from everywhere travel to Everest hoping toearn the distinction of climbing the "World's Highest".

What does "world's highest" really mean?Mount Everest is called the world's highest mountain because it hasthe highest elevation above sea level . We could also say that it hasthe "highest altitude".

The peak of Mount Everest is 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) above sealevel. No other mountain on Earth has a higher altitude. However,some mountains might be considered "taller" (with taller being "thetotal vertical distance between their base and their summit").


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Mauna Kea: The "Tallest Mountain"

Mauna Kea has an altitude of 4,205 meters(13,796 feet) - much lower than Mount Everest.However, Mauna Kea is an island and if the

distance from the bottom of the nearby PacificOcean floor to the peak of the island is measured,then Mauna Kea is "taller" than Mount Everest.

Mauna Kea is over 10,000 meters tall comparedto 8,848 meters for Mount Everest - making it the"world's tallest mountain".


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Chimborazo: "Highest Above Earth'sCenter"

Chimborazo in Ecuador has an altitude of 6,310 meters(20,703 feet). Mount Everest has a higher altitude andMauna Kea is "taller". However, Chimborazo has thedistinction of being the ""highest mountain above

Earth's center".This is because Earth is not a sphere - it is an oblatespheroid. As an oblate spheroid, Earth is widest at itsequator. Chimborazo is just one degree south of the

equator. At that location it is 6,384 kilometers aboveEarth's center or about 2 kilometers farther fromEarth's center than Mount Everest.


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Highest Waterfall in the World


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World's Highest Waterfall

Angel Falls (Salto ngel) in Venezuela is thehighest waterfall in the world. The falls are3230 feet in height with an uninterrupteddrop of 2647 feet. Angel Falls is located on atributary of the Rio Caroni. The falls areformed when the tributary stream falls from

the top of Auyantepui (a tepui is a flat-toppedstructure surrounded by cliffs - similar to amesa).


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The Vredefort Dome Largest and Oldest Clearly-Visible Meteor

Impact Structure


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The Vredefort Dome is believed to be the oldestand largest clearly visible meteor impactstructure in the world. It is located in SouthAfrica, approximately 100 kilometers southwestof Johannesburg. It is approximately 250kilometers in diameter and is thought to haveformed about two billion years ago. TheVredefort Dome can be seen in the Landsat image

below as a roughly circular pattern. The VaalRiver can be seen meandering across thenorthern part of the structure.


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There is evidence of at least four other impact structures on Earth that arethought to be older than the Vredefort Dome, however, these structuresare no longer visible at the surface and recognizable as a meteor impactstructures.

The Verdefort Dome has also been severely altered by earth processes.When first formed it was most likely a crater, however that structure hasbeen eroded away and a ring of uplifted rocks in the area surrounding thecrater are now exposed at the surface. These rocks were uplifted in arebound action at the time of impact.

If you study the image above you will see that the northwestern part ofthe dome is more clearly visible than the southeastern part of the dome.This is because the southeastern part is now covered by sediments of theKaroo Supergroup.

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