Everest is known as the highest peak on the planet, standing about 8.85 kilometers above sea level. But if we change the way height is measured, first place can unexpectedly go to another mountain — Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano.
Most of Mauna Kea is hidden beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Only its upper section rises above the water, reaching a little over four kilometers in height. However, if the mountain is measured from its base on the ocean floor to its summit, its total height exceeds ten kilometers.
That is why Mauna Kea is often called the tallest mountain on Earth from base to summit.
The difference comes from the fact that geographical elevation is usually measured relative to mean sea level. By this standard, Everest remains the undisputed leader. But from a geological perspective, Mauna Kea is a much larger structure, with most of it simply hidden underwater.
There is also another interesting way to compare mountains — by measuring their distance from the center of the Earth. Because our planet is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges around the equator, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is actually farther from the Earth’s center than the summit of Everest.
So the question “Which mountain is the tallest?” actually has several correct answers — it all depends on where you start measuring from.
