Ep.15: 10 Highest Mountains on Earth

August 20, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode will be on one of my favourite things and that is mountains. Ever since I was young, I always had a deep fascination and appreciation for the highest mountains on earth.

I remember reading Sir Edmund Hillary’s book, “A View From The Summit”, “Into Thin Air” by John Krakou which was about the 1997 Everest disaster, along with seeing Everest on Imax and eventually trekking the Everest Trail in Nepal.

I’ll never forget when we camped at our highest point around 4000 metres and frankly, I was a little bored because it was pretty slow going so, I asked one of the sherpas if he would take me to the top of one of the nearby mountains. Anyway, he agreed and we ran most of the way up and when we got to the top it actually felt like the Sound of Music, but on a much grander stage just overlooking all the surrounding peaks for miles and miles. We raced back to camp and the next day I had my first dose of altitude sickness.

Another thing about the trip that absolutely amazed me was how much those sherpas could lift. I could not even get one of those bigger packs off the ground and here these sherpas are carrying these packs for hours and in thongs or no footwear at all.

Following the trip, I actually built a model of Mount Everest. And I remember one weekend when I was looking after my nephew, he was looking at it and he asked me, “Is it to scale?”, and I replied, “No … it’s to look at!”

Today’s mnemonic will be on the 10 highest mountains on Earth.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Everest_and_Nuptse.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of 7,200 metres (23,622 ft) or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian and Eurasian plates in China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Figure demonstrating the concept of topographic prominence: The prominence of a peak is the height of the peak's summit above the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit. For example, vertical arrows show the topographic prominence of three peaks on an island. A dotted horizontal line links each peak (except the highest) to its key col.

The dividing line between a mountain with multiple peaks and separate mountains is not always clear (see also Highest unclimbed mountain). A popular and intuitive way to distinguish mountains from subsidiary peaks is by their height above the highest saddle connecting it to a higher summit, a measure called topographic prominence or re-ascent (the higher summit is called the "parent peak"). A common definition of a mountain is a summit with 300 m (980 ft) prominence. Alternatively, a relative prominence (prominence/height) is used (usually 7–8%) to reflect that in higher mountain ranges everything is on a larger scale. The table below lists the highest 100 summits with at least 500 m (1,640 ft) prominence, approximating a 7% relative prominence. A drawback of a prominence-based list is that it may exclude well-known or spectacular mountains that are connected via a high ridge to a taller summit, such as Eiger, Nuptse or Annapurna IV. A few such peaks and mountains with nearly sufficient prominence are included in this list, and given a rank of "S".

It is very unlikely that all given heights are correct to the nearest metre; indeed, the sea level is often problematic to define when a mountain is remote from the sea. Different sources often differ by many metres, and the heights given below may well differ from those elsewhere in this encyclopedia. As an extreme example, Ulugh Muztagh on the north Tibetan Plateau is often listed as 7,723 m (25,338 ft) to 7,754 m (25,440 ft), but appears to be only 6,973 m (22,877 ft) to 6,987 m (22,923 ft). Some mountains differ by > 100 m (330 ft) on different maps, while even very thorough current measurements of Mount Everest range from 8,840 m (29,003 ft) to 8,848 m (29,029 ft). These discrepancies serve to emphasize the uncertainties in the listed heights.

Though some parts of the world, especially the most mountainous parts, have never been thoroughly mapped, it is unlikely that any mountains this high have been overlooked, because synthetic aperture radar can and has been used to measure elevations of most otherwise inaccessible places. Still, heights or prominences may be revised, so that the order of the list may change and even new mountains could enter the list over time. To be safe, the list has been extended to include all 7,200 m (23,622 ft) peaks.

The highest mountains above sea level are generally not the highest above the surrounding terrain. There is no precise definition of surrounding base, but Denali,[1] Mount Kilimanjaro [2] and Nanga Parbat [3] are possible candidates for the tallest mountain on land by this measure. The bases of mountain islands are below sea level, and given this consideration Mauna Kea (4,207 m (13,802 ft) above sea level) is the world's tallest mountain and volcano, rising about 10,203 m (33,474 ft) from the Pacific Ocean floor. Mount Lamlam on Guam is periodically claimed to be among the world's highest mountains because it is adjacent to the Mariana Trench; the most extreme claim is that, measured from Challenger Deep 313 kilometres (194 mi) away, Mount Lamlam is 37,820 feet (11,530 m) tall.[4][5] Ojos del Salado has the greatest rise on Earth: 13,420 m (44,029 ft) vertically to the summit[citation needed] from the bottom of the Atacama Trench, which is about 560 km (350 mi) away, although most of this rise is not part of the mountain.

The highest mountains are also not generally the most voluminous. Mauna Loa (4,169 m or 13,678 ft) is the largest mountain on Earth in terms of base area (about 2,000 sq mi or 5,200 km2) and volume (about 10,000 cu mi or 42,000 km3), although, due to the intergrade of lava from Kilauea, Hualalai and Mauna Kea, the volume can only be estimated based on surface area and height of the edifice. Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest non-shield volcano in terms of both base area (245 sq mi or 635 km2) and volume (1,150 cu mi or 4,793 km3). Mount Logan is the largest non-volcanic mountain in base area (120 sq mi or 311 km2).

The highest mountains above sea level are also not those with peaks farthest from the centre of the Earth, because the figure of the Earth is not spherical. Sea level closer to the equator is several kilometres farther from the centre of the Earth. The summit of Chimborazo, Ecuador's tallest mountain, is usually considered to be the farthest point from the Earth's centre, although the southern summit of Peru's tallest mountain, Huascarán, is another contender.[6] Both have elevations above sea level more than 2 km (1.2 mi) less than that of Everest.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Himalayas,_Mountains_of_Nepal.jpg

Mnemonic

10 Highest Mountains on Earth Mnemonic – Everest Keeps Kite Low to the Mountain. Climbing Down Makes Nees Ache.

(Picture standing about halfway up Everest flying your kite high in the sky, but low to the mountain because it is so steep, and as a result when you’re climbing down it makes your knees ache)

1. Mount Everest

2. K2

3. Kangchenjunga

4. Lhotse

5. Makalu

6. Cho Oyu

7. Dhaulagiri

8. Manaslu

9. Nanga Parbat

10. Annapurna

Five Fun Facts

1. Mount Everest at 8,848 meters or 29,028 feet is the highest elevation above sea level and was first identified by British surveyor Sir George Everest in 1856.

2. There are three types of mountains. These are volcanic mountains, folded mountains, and erosion mountains.

3. Mountains also exist underwater. The most famous undersea mountain is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge while the highest ocean mountain is Mount Vema in the South Atlantic Ocean.

4. Six people on average die annually while climbing Mount Everest.

5. It is believed mountain goats are the most adroit mountain climbers of all; even better than skilled humans. Their cloven hooves, toes, and hard pad underneath each toe, all help with this prowess.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kodaki_fuji_frm_shojinko.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Mount Everest is also known by two other names. Name one?

Q.2. Of the 10 highest peaks, which is the deadliest and how many of these peaks are in the Himalayas?

Q.3. Which country has the longest mountain name? Options are: New Zealand, Iceland, or Norway

Bonus Q. What is funnier: Mountain ranges or forests?

Mnemonic Recap

10 Highest Mountains on Earth Mnemonic – Everest Keeps Kite Low to the Mountain. Climbing Down Makes Nees Ache.

(Picture standing about halfway up Everest flying your kite high in the sky, but low to the mountain because it is so steep, and as a result when you’re climbing down it makes your knees ache)

1. Mount Everest

2. K2

3. Kangchenjunga

4. Lhotse

5. Makalu

6. Cho Oyu

7. Dhaulagiri

8. Manaslu

9. Nanga Parbat

10. Annapurna

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Mount Everest is also known by two other names. Name one?

A. Sagarmatha & Chomolungma

Q.2. Of the 10 highest peaks, which is the deadliest and how many of these peaks are in the Himalayas?

A. K2 is the deadliest, which is also known as the savage mountain thanks to George Bell an American explorer who climbed K2 in 1953. 9 are in the Himalayas

Q.3. Which country has the longest mountain name? New Zealand, Iceland or Norway

A. New Zealand – It consists of 85 letters Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu

Bonus Q. What is funnier: Mountain ranges or forests?

A. Mountain Ranges; they’re hill-areas!

Word of the Week

bellwether

[ bel-weth-er ]

noun

a person or thing that shows the existence or direction of a trend.

Example

The drop in temperature and dark, heavy clouds rolling in, was the bellwether for stormy conditions ahead.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]