Rising above sea level, Mount Everest stands as the tallest peak on Earth. Nestled within the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the mighty Himalayas, it straddles the border between China and Nepal at its summit. The official elevation of this mountain was jointly determined by Chinese and Nepali authorities in 2020, solidifying its towering height at 8,848.86 meters.
In other words, it seems impossible to find something on Earth that’s taller than Mount Everest. But yet again, nature comes to surprise us as it has always done.
Underground mountains are 3 to 4 times higher than Everest
Scientists have made a fascinating discovery in the deep recesses of our planet: according to NDTV, they found mountains that surpass the height of Mount Everest three to four times over. Using seismology centers from Antarctica, a team from Arizona State University detected these huge underground mountain ranges at the boundary between the core and mantle, roughly 2,900 kilometers beneath the Earth’s surface.
Dubbed ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs), the newfound structures had remained hidden until seismic data from earthquakes and atomic explosions unveiled their presence. Estimates suggest these underground mountains reach heights of over 38 kilometers, compared to Mount Everest’s 8.8-kilometer prominence. Scientists believe these formations are ancient remnants of oceanic crust that sank into the mantle of the Earth and spread out, contributing to the complex internal structure of our planet.
Samantha Hansen, a co-author of the study who works at the University of Alabama, explained, as NDTV quotes:
Seismic investigations, such as ours, provide the highest resolution imaging of the interior structure of our planet, and we are finding that this structure is vastly more complicated than once thought,
Our research provides important connections between shallow and deep Earth structure and the overall processes driving our planet.
The new discovery not only unveils the hidden wonders of our Earth’s depths but also raises questions about their role in regulating heat flow from the core.
