Topographic isolation

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Topographic isolation and prominence
A - Nearest higher neighbour Topographic isolation and prominence.svg
Topographic isolation and prominence
A - Nearest higher neighbour

The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks and can even be calculated for submarine summits. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, has an undefined isolation, since there are no higher points to reference. [1]

Contents

Because topographic isolation can be difficult to determine, a common approximation is the distance to a peak called the nearest higher neighbour (NHN). [2]

Isolation table

The following sortable table lists Earth's 40 most topographically isolated summits.

The 40 most topographically isolated summits on Earth
Rank Summit Landmass Country Elevation Prominence IsolationNearest higher neighbour
1 Mount Everest Eurasia Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
8848 m
29,029 ft
8848 m
29,029 ft
n/an/a
2 Aconcagua South America Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina (Mendoza)6962 m
22,841 ft
6962 m
22,841 ft
16,520 km
10,265 mi
Tirich Mir (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
3 Denali North America Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States (Alaska)6194 m
20,320 ft
6149 m
20,174 ft
7,450 km
4,629 mi
Yanamax (Xinjiang, China)
4 Kilimanjaro Africa Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 5895 m
19,341 ft
5885 m
19,308 ft
5,510 km
3,424 mi
Kuh-e Shashgal (Afghanistan)
5 Puncak Jaya New Guinea Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia (Papua)4884 m
16,024 ft
4884 m
16,024 ft
5,262 km
3,269 mi
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yunnan, China)
6 Vinson Massif Antarctica Blank flag.svg  Antarctica 4892 m
16,050 ft
4892 m
16,050 ft
4,861 km
3,020 mi
Risco Plateado (Mendoza, Argentina)
7 Mont Orohena Tahiti Flag of French Polynesia.svg  French Polynesia 2241 m
7,352 ft
2241 m
7,352 ft
4,128 km
2,565 mi
Mount Ngauruhoe (New Zealand)
8 Mauna Kea Hawai'i Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States (Hawai'i)4205 m
13,796 ft
4205 m
13,796 ft
3,947 km
2,453 mi
Mount Shasta (California, US)
9 Gunnbjørn Fjeld Greenland Flag of Greenland.svg  Greenland 3694 m
12,119 ft
3694 m
12,119 ft
3,254 km
2,022 mi
The Eiger (Canton of Bern, Switzerland)
10 Aoraki / Mount Cook South Island Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 3754 m
12,316 ft
3754 m
12,316 ft
3,140 km
1,951 mi
Mount Adam (Victoria Land, Antarctica)
11 Thabana Ntlenyana Africa Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho 3482 m
11,424 ft
2390 m
7,841 ft
3,003 km
1,866 mi
Mount Meru (Tanzania)
12 Maunga Terevaka Easter Island Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 506 m
1,660 ft
506 m
1,660 ft
2,836 km
1,762 mi
Cerro de Los Inocentes (Alejandro Selkirk Island, Chile)
13 Mont Blanc Eurasia Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
4809 m
15,778 ft
4696 m
15,407 ft
2,813 km
1,748 mi
Kukurtlu Dome  [ ru ] (Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia)
14 Piton des Neiges Réunion Flag of France.svg  France 3071 m
10,075 ft
3071 m
10,075 ft
2,767 km
1,720 mi
Giant's Castle (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
15 Klyuchevskaya Sopka Eurasia Flag of Russia.svg  Russia (Kamchatka)4750 m
15,584 ft
4649 m
15,253 ft
2,748 km
1,708 mi
Mount Foraker (Alaska, US)
16 Pico de Orizaba North America Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico (Puebla)5636 m
18,491 ft
4922 m
16,148 ft
2,690 km
1,672 mi
Pico Cristóbal Colón (Magdalena Department, Colombia)
17 Queen Mary's Peak Tristan da Cunha Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 2060 m
6,759 ft
2060 m
6,759 ft
2,665 km
1,656 mi
Mount Paget (South Georgia Island, UK)
18 Mount Whitney North America Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States (California)4421 m
14,505 ft
3072 m
10,080 ft
2,649 km
1,646 mi
Nevado de Toluca (State of Mexico, Mexico)
19 Gunung Kinabalu Borneo Flag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia (Sabah)4095 m
13,435 ft
4095 m
13,435 ft
2,538 km
1,577 mi
Ngga Pilimsit (Papua, Indonesia)
20 Mount Elbrus Eurasia Flag of Russia.svg  Russia (Kabardino-Balkaria)5642 m
18,510 ft
4741 m
15,554 ft
2,473 km
1,536 mi
Pik Agasis (Tajikistan)
21 Pico da Bandeira South America Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil (Espírito Santo)2897 m
9,505 ft
2647 m
8,684 ft
2,393 km
1,487 mi
Cerro Naranjos  [ es ] (Bolivia)
22 Mont Cameroun Africa Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 4040 m
13,255 ft
3901 m
12,799 ft
2,338 km
1,453 mi
Mikeno (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
23 Mount Paget South Georgia Flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.svg  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 2915 m
9,564 ft
2915 m
9,564 ft
2,269 km
1,410 mi
Welch Mountains (Palmer Land, Antarctica)
24 Mauga Silisili Savai'i Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 1858 m
6,096 ft
1858 m
6,096 ft
2,245 km
1,395 mi
Tabwemasana (Vanuatu)
25 Nevado Huascarán South America Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 6746 m
22,133 ft
2776 m
9,108 ft
2,196 km
1,365 mi
Tres Cruces (Chile/Argentina border)
26 Anamudi Eurasia Flag of India.svg  India (Kerala)2695 m
8,842 ft
2480 m
8,136 ft
2,115 km
1,314 mi
Machapuchare (Nepal)
27 Jebel Toubkal Africa Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 4167 m
13,671 ft
3755 m
12,320 ft
2,078 km
1,291 mi
Picco Luigi Amedeo (Italy)
28 Mount Fuji Honshu Flag of Japan.svg  Japan (Chūbu)3776 m
12,388 ft
3776 m
12,388 ft
2,077 km
1,291 mi
Xueshan (Taiwan)
29 Emi Koussi Africa Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 3445 m
11,302 ft
2934 m
9,626 ft
2,001 km
1,243 mi
Mount Cameroon (Cameroon)
30 Mawson Peak Heard Island Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (Heard and McDonald Islands)2745 m
9,006 ft
2745 m
9,006 ft
1,922 km
1,194 mi
Mount McMaster (Enderby Land, Antarctica)
31 Mount Mitchell North America Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States (North Carolina)2037 m
6,684 ft
1857 m
6,091 ft
1,913 km
1,189 mi
Lone Butte (Colorado, US)
32 Gunung Kerinci Sumatra Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia (West Sumatra)3805 m
12,484 ft
3805 m
12,484 ft
1,905 km
1,184 mi
Gunung Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysia)
33 Joe's Hill Kiritimati Flag of Kiribati.svg  Kiribati 13 m
43 ft
13 m
43 ft
1,903 km
1,182 mi
Puu Ki (Hawaii, US)
34 Agrihan High Point Agrihan Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg  Northern Mariana Islands 965 m
3,166 ft
965 m
3,166 ft
1,902 km
1,182 mi
Mount Amagi (Chūbu, Japan)
35 Mount Kosciuszko Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (New South Wales)2228 m
7,310 ft
2228 m
7,310 ft
1,895 km
1,177 mi
Tutoko (New Zealand)
36 Olavtoppen Bouvet Island Flag of Norway.svg  Bouvet Island 780 m
2,559 ft
780 m
2,559 ft
1,856 km
1,153 mi
Edinburgh Peak (Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean)
37 Mascarin Peak Marion Island Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa (Prince Edward Islands)1230 m
4,035 ft
1230 m
4,035 ft
1,848 km
1,148 mi
Cockscomb (Eastern Cape, South Africa)
38 Green Mountain Ascension Island Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 859 m
2,818 ft
859 m
2,818 ft
1,842 km
1,145 mi
Mount Richard-Molard (Ivory Coast/Guinea border)
39 Gora Narodnaya Eurasia Flag of Russia.svg  Russia (Khanty-Mansi)1895 m
6,217 ft
1772 m
5,814 ft
1,836 km
1,141 mi
Kattotjåkkå (Sweden)
40 Yushan Taiwan Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan 3952 m
12,966 ft
3952 m
12,966 ft
1,815 km
1,128 mi
Peak 4030 (Yunnan, China)

Examples

See also

Related Research Articles

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The most isolated major summits of Europe by topographic isolation are located in the European continent and its tectonic and geographic boundaries. This includes major mountain peaks of fold and fault-block mountains, and also volcanoes, located not only in the European Mainland, but also those located on lands and islands on the limits of Europe, like the North Atlantic Ocean islands of the Azores and Iceland, the Arctic Ocean islands of Jan Mayen, Svalbard archipelago and Novaya Zemlya archipelago, the Mediterranean island of Sicily, the Ural Mountains, and Mount Elbrus. The last mentioned is HP of the transboundary Caucasus Mountains and Greater Caucasus region, but as a geologically separate stratovolcano, it is entirely laying in Europe, 20 km (12 mi) north of the main ridge of the Greater Caucasus, considered as the one that is forming the limits of Europe. The definition excludes island clearly lying on the African Plate and outside the geographic limits of Europe, like the Canaries and Madeira. The active volcano of Mount Etna is somehow on, or just outside the boundaries of the Eurasian Plate, resting on the subduction boundary where the African tectonic plate is being pushed under the Eurasian plate, but geographically is part of Europe, and is also included in the Top 10 lists.

References

  1. Kirmse, Andrew; de Ferranti, Jonathan (December 2017). "Calculating the prominence and isolation of every mountain in the world". Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment. 41 (6): 788–802. doi:10.1177/0309133317738163 . Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  2. Nearest higher neighbour in glossary on www.peakbagger.com
  3. "Most Isolated Peak of Europe Countries - Peakbagger.com".
  4. "Europe Ultra-Prominences". Peaklist. Retrieved 26 February 2015.