Mountains have always amazed the imagination of man and attracted to themselves with proud grandeur and bewitching beauty. No one can remain indifferent at the sight of mountain peaks covered with snow caps and wrapped in bedspreads of clouds. Whoever has seen the mountains, even if not very high, will remember them for life. Can anything be compared to this magnificence? Probably, only higher mountains, with even steeper slopes and snow-white glaciers sliding along them, with sharp peaks of peaks that stretch up to the bright sun and hide in the blue abyss of the sky.
The greatness of nature and its creations makes a person think a lot. And not only about his being and life problems, but also about what surrounds us. After all, we know so little about the world around us! And even what seems to us to be known a long time ago, is not so unambiguous. For example, when asked what is the highest mountain on Earth, many, without hesitation, will answer that it is Everest. From the school bench, we even know its height - 8848 meters. We also know its location - the Himalayas.
Is it really so?
The thing is that the values of the height of the mountain depend on the method of its measurement. If we consider the height above sea level, then, of course, the highest mountain on Earth - Chomolungma, which is also called Everest. Many claim that this peak continues to grow and its height has already reached 8852 meters. There is another opinion: the Chomolungma is decreasing in size, it is as if sinking into the bowels of the earth, so it has become lower - 8841 meters. But be that as it may, Everest is considered the highest elevated peak of our planet.
But not so simple. After all, mountains are not only on land, but also under water. And if you measure the height from the foot to the top, it turns out that the highest mountain on Earth has a "growth" of about 10, 000 meters. This giant is the symbol of the Hawaiian Islands - Mauna Kea volcano.
With the first method of counting, this mountain could not even get into the ten most significant peaks of the world. And in the second method, the lower part of the mountain, hidden in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to a depth of almost 6000 meters, is added to 4205 meters above sea level, as a result, the total height is obtained, which according to various sources ranges from 9750 to 10205 meters. But still, it is much more than Everest. After all these calculations, the honorary title "The highest mountain on Earth" should be given to Mauna Kea.
Famous stranger
The name of the volcano is translated as "White Mountain". Its top is hidden under the ice cap, formed a very long time ago. The snow cover of the mountain is constantly replenished with newly fallen snow, sometimes many meters thick. Mauna Kea belongs to the centers of modern glaciation, as well as Elbrus - the highest mountain in the Caucasus.
Mauna Kea was born on the ocean floor at a distant time when the formation of the entire Hawaiian archipelago occurred as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions. Today the volcano is considered extinct, but its awakening is only a matter of time, since the process of mountain building in this part of the Pacific Ocean bottom continues to the present, and the highest mountain on Earth can still grow.
