The highest mountain in the world is not Mount Everest?

Let me ask you a question first, which mountain is the highest in the world?

The mountain with the highest altitude is none other than Mount Everest, which is equivalent to a "small giant" standing on the shoulders of the "big giant" Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Have you ever imagined that there is a very high mountain under the sea, and through your own efforts, you can break through the sea and rush into the clouds? It really exists!

In the Pacific Ocean, in the Hawaiian Islands, there is a volcanic island called Mauna Loa , with an altitude of 4205m. Although this 4205m mountain is not special, if we look below the sea surface, we will find that the part below the sea level is as high as 5998m. Mauna Loa, with a height of 10203m, has won the title of the world's highest "naked" mountain. Compared with Mount Everest, it is equivalent to a "giant" standing on the seabed .

Mauna Loa volcano map | www2.hawaii.edu

Moreover, as volcanic activity continues, this relative height will continue to increase !

Of course, a mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who live there. Mount Taishan, with a height of only 1545m, has won the reputation of " the most majestic of the Five Mountains ". Every mountain has its own unique artistic conception, and no one can judge a mountain by its height.

So, here's another bonus question? What's the longest mountain range in the world?

We say that mountains are divided into high and low, while mountain ranges are divided into long and short. The difference between them is easy to explain!

The easiest example to distinguish is China's Mount Everest and the Himalayas to which it belongs.

Himalayas topographic map | pic.sogou.com

The red star is Mount Everest and the yellow line is the Himalayas

Therefore, a mountain range is much larger than a "mountain", and is a large number of mountains distributed in a regular pattern along a certain direction.

Now, let's talk about the longest mountain range in the world. I thought the Himalayas were very long and I might never be able to walk them all in my lifetime, so I looked up "the longest mountain range on land". The result told me: "You're wrong, the Andes is the longest on land .

South America topographic map | Map approval number: GS(2009)183

Who is Andes?

The Andes Mountains are located in the western part of South America, with a total length of more than 8,900 kilometers, roughly equivalent to the straight-line distance from Beijing to France.

Since the Andes is the longest mountain range on land, are there similar ones on the seabed that we are not familiar with?

There is a seabed with a length of about 75,000 km , an average width of about 1,000 km , and a height of 1 to 3 km above the seabed. It accounts for 23% of the Earth’s surface area[1] (note that land accounts for 29% of the Earth’s surface area).

It is the longest submarine mountain range on Earth and is called the mid-ocean ridge .[2]

Distribution map of mid-ocean ridges | twwiki.com

The light yellow in the above picture represents land , and the darker color represents the true appearance of the seabed after removing the seawater. Let's look at the blue dotted line, which is the mountains distributed regularly along a certain direction.

As for why it is called the mid-ocean ridge ?

I think, to borrow a common saying, "People have backbones, ships have keels", the ocean also has its "backbone"! Moreover, it is mainly distributed in the ocean far away from the continent and in the middle of it. Therefore, we call it the mid-ocean ridge.

[1] Introduction to Oceanography, by Alan P. Trujilo and Harold V. Thurman, Electronic Industry Press

[2] Principles of Geomorphology, edited by Yang Jingchun and Li Youli, Peking University Press