Why do some people say that the mountains on Earth are no higher than 20,000 meters?

Many people know that the deepest place in the world is the Mariana Trench, but it is difficult to describe its depth. At this time, we need to bring out the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.

The world's tallest peak

It turns out that even if the world's highest peak is placed in the Mariana Trench, its top cannot emerge from the water, which indirectly shows how deep it is.

In fact, this situation is caused by the fact that the mountains on Earth are too "unsatisfactory" and their height seems to have a "limit". So why is the height of the mountains limited? Why do some people say that no matter how much the mountains on Earth grow, they will never exceed 20,000 meters? Next, let's take a look!

Who exactly limits the "growth" of the mountain?

The tallest mountains on Earth

When talking about tall mountains on Earth, the first thing that comes to mind may be Mount Everest, but few people have thought that the height of Mount Everest may just be "false height". Why do you say that?

It turns out that the reason why Mount Everest is considered the highest peak in the world is that its altitude reaches 8,848.86 meters. The "altitude" is based on the average sea level. In this case, Mount Everest actually benefits from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. If we only look at the "height" of the mountain itself, it is not the highest peak in the world. Even Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa is higher than it.

Altitude profile of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Therefore, if Mount Everest was not born on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its height would only be about 3,844 to 4,844 meters, which is nothing special compared to some other mountains in the world.

So, if we don’t use altitude as the basis, but use the “height” of the mountain itself as the basis, which is the tallest mountain on earth?

Mount Everest standing on the shoulders of "giants"

Many people may not understand how to define the height of a mountain. In fact, it is very simple. Just start from the foot of the mountain and end at the top of the mountain, and then measure it. If you use this method to measure the mountains on the earth, you will find that the "champion" should be Mauna Kea, which is a volcano located in the Hawaiian Islands.

Although Mauna Kea is only 4,205 meters above sea level, if measured by height, it would reach 10,203 meters, a true "10,000-meter peak." However, even so, if it were placed in the Mariana Trench, the top of the mountain would not be visible.

Comparison of the heights of Mauna Kea and Mount Everest

The reason why this mountain has always been very "low-key" is that most of its body is submerged by sea water, and the part exposed above the sea is only the 4,205 meters we mentioned above.

So, when you take a boat to see the part of it that is above the sea, you will think it is just so-so. But if you take a peek at the half under the sea, you will sigh that this is the tallest mountain.

Of course, some people also said that wouldn’t its bottom be corroded and collapsed in the sea?

Topographic map of Mauna Kea and its submarine components

In fact, this guy is not only tall but also very heavy, with a volume of 3,200 cubic kilometers. Its existence even has the effect of "Mount Tai pressing down on the Pacific crust", pressing it down by several thousand meters.

It can be seen that there are still peaks of 10,000 meters on our earth, but it is very difficult to exceed 20,000 meters. So, what is it that limits the growth of mountains on earth?

Mauna Kea, whose land part is equally majestic

The reason why the Earth's mountains are "restricted"

We mentioned in the previous article that there are actually mountains on Earth that are over 10,000 meters high, but this 10,000 meters is really nothing in the solar system. Why do we say that?

Because after a thorough search of the solar system over the years, humans have discovered many mountains that are much taller than we imagined. For example, Rhea Silvia Mons on Vesta is the highest mountain in the solar system, with a "height" of about 22,500 meters. It is not difficult to see that this height is more than twice the highest peak on Earth, which is indeed amazing.

Rheasilvia Mons in the southern hemisphere of Vesta

In addition, even Mars, which is so popular among humans, has mountains that are much higher than those on Earth. People named the highest peak on Mars Olympus Mons, which is 21,171 meters high, which is indeed in line with the setting of "the residence of Greek gods".

In short, if we were to rank the mountains in the solar system, Earth's peaks wouldn't even make the top 10. So why are our mountains so low?

Mount Olympus topographic map

Scientists believe that there are several main reasons why the height of the earth's mountains is limited, including the materials that make up the mountains, the movement of plates, and external weakening. Next, let's talk about these influencing factors.

First of all, the materials that make up the mountain. As we all know, it is not difficult to build a skyscraper from the ground up, but it is easy to make it rise, but it is very difficult to grow very high without collapsing.

This is obviously limited by the material of the mountain. Even sandstone, which has the highest compressive resistance, can only maintain stability when the mountain is about 8,900 meters high. If it exceeds this height, it will face collapse under the influence of gravity.

Breathtaking sandstone mountains

The second is the movement of the Earth's plates. Unlike other "dead" celestial bodies in the solar system, the Earth's activities are still very active. It can even be said that most of the peaks on Earth were born because of this activity.

This kind of activity can "build mountains" or "destroy mountains". If the crustal activity in the area where the mountain is located is very intense, it will be difficult for it to grow normally in a "safe" environment. Often during the growth process, it will be affected by crustal activity and its height will be weakened.

Block movement diagram

Finally, there is the external weakening effect, whether it is weathering or rain erosion, although these effects may be "insignificant" once or twice, they will still cause serious "damage" to the height of the mountain over time. For example, the top of Mauna Kea, the 10,000-meter peak on Earth mentioned above, has been "flattened" year after year. Although it is only 0.2 mm per year, it is always not good for the growth of the mountain.

In summary, it is the combined effect of internal and external forces that keeps the height of the Earth's mountains within a certain limit. However, it is hard to say whether a mountain will "emerge" in the future and squeeze into the list of the "Top Ten Mountains in the Solar System" on its own.

Can Mount Everest bring glory to the "ball" in the future?

It is worth mentioning that after scientists have gained a certain understanding of the height of the mountains on Mars, they have always been curious why this "twin brother" that is very similar to the Earth shows such a huge difference in mountain height with the Earth.

Difference in mountain heights between Mars and Earth

According to human exploration and research on Mars, there are many landforms on Mars that are very similar to those on Earth. When people carefully screened with the Mars Global Survey Satellite, they found that there are many peaks on Mars. In addition to the Olympus Mons mentioned above, many mountains on Mars are higher than those on Earth.

This undoubtedly proves one thing, that is, the height of a mountain has little to do with the size and mass of the planet it is on. Before humans made this discovery, many scientists believed that the two were linked.

Schematic diagram of the mountains on the Tharsis volcanic plateau on Mars

Since Mars is much smaller in size and mass than the Earth, based on the proportions of Earth's mountains, the highest mountain on Mars would not exceed 5,000 meters.

This happens because the gravitational acceleration on Earth is too great. In this case, after exceeding a certain limit, the shear stress will no longer exist, and the mountain will face many risks.

Data shows that the ratio of the height of the highest peak on Mars to the height of the highest peak on Earth is 2.4, the reciprocal of which is 0.417, and the ratio of their gravitational acceleration is 0.379, which is consistent with our explanation. Therefore, mountains higher than 20,000 meters can form on Mars, but not on Earth.

The gravity on Mars is 2/5 of that on Earth

In summary, you should understand why Mars is not as big as Earth, but its mountains are much higher than Earth. In fact, in addition to Mars, the mountains on many satellites in the solar system are higher than Earth. In this regard, we really have no strength to compare with others.

However, regardless of whether their heights can be ranked, they are already the "limit" in the eyes of humans. For the sake of adventure, humans will climb these dangerous peaks and reach the top to take in the scenery of the earth.

Humanity's pace of challenging the limits has never stopped

I believe that if we were on other barren planets, even if we climbed to the top, it would be difficult to see similar scenery. This is probably the most special thing about the mountains on Earth, and this height is enough for humans.

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