How high the moon?
I read a children's book about the 50 states, and I noted on some pages the mention of mountain elevations. The thing is that they didn't specify if the elevation is above sea level or above the surrounding land. For example, Mt. Everest is the mountain with the highest elevation above sea level, but Mt. Kilimanjaro requires a higher climb from the land beneath it. Is a 15,000 foot mountain quite so impressive or tall if you're already at 6,000 feet looking at it? Isn't it just a 9,000 foot mountain then?
posted by Captain Chlorophyll @ 10:33 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah, with mountains, I believe, how "high" they are means how high above sea level, but how "tall" they are refers to the distance from base to summit. So, Mt. Everest is indeed the highest mountain on Earth, but Mauna Kean in Hawaii, most of which is underwater is actually the tallest.
This has been your fun fact for the day. :)
D'oh. I typo'd trying to type "Mauna Kea." (We have a radio telescope up there, by the way. So it's totally something I know how to spell. :))
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