Science
Related: About this forumHighest and lowest points on Earth | Earth | EarthSky
(Dammit. Wish I could post the graphic. Damn ancient phone)This fascinating infographic on Earths highest and lowest points and the information below comes from Chiltern Thrust Bore in the UK. On the page where this graphic was originally posted, they added more detail:
ABOVE SEA LEVEL
29,035ft Mount Everest
Nepal is home Mount Everest, the Earths highest point and to put into perspective just how high it stands, consider that commercial aeroplanes fly at a height of 30,000 35,000 ft.
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26,000 ft Death Zone
Known as the death zone after 26,000 ft above sea level, oxygen levels are insufficient to sustain human life. Thats why mountain climbers must carry oxygen tanks with them when they climb high peaks like Mount Everest.
22,595 ft Ojos del Salado
The worlds highest active volcano is located in the Andes on the Argentina-Chile border. The most recent eruption occurred around 1300 years ago, however there is also some evidence of a minor ash emission in 1993.
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2,717 ft Burj Khalifa
Located in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building and free-standing structure in the world, with 160 stories.
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BELOW SEA LEVEL
3,182 ft Bingham Canyon Mine
The Bingham Canyon Mine (also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine) is the largest open-pit mine in the world. Located in the Oquirrh Mountains outside Salt Lake City, it has been the site of a massive copper extraction since 1906.
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10,000 ft Cuviers Beaked Whales
The Cuvier currently holds the record for the deepest dives, according to the Cascadia Research Collective. Diving deeper than the Sperm Whale (which can reach depths of around 7,300 ft), these whales have also been recorded to hold their breath and stay underwater for up to 38 minutes!
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30,000 ft KTB Borehole
The KTB Borehole, also known as the German Superdeep Hole, was originally conceived as one of the most ambitious geoscientific projects ever. Scientists were eager to study the effects of stress on layers of rock, abnormalities in the Earths crust, and how heat and stress were conducted through it, amongst over geoscience things.
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37,318 ft Sakhalin-I Project
The Sakhalin-1 project is a consortium to locate and produce oil and gas on Sakahalin Island, Russia and immediately offshore.
Since drilling began in 2003, six of the worlds 10 record-setting extended reach drilling wells have been drilled. On 27 August 2012, one of their wells known as the ERD well reached a measured total depth of 40,604 ft (12,376 meters), making it the longest well in the world.
However, despite being the longest drilled hole in the world, the ERD well isnt actually the deepest. That record belongs to the Kola Borehole.
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More
http://earthsky.org/earth/highest-and-lowest-points-on-earth?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=37095546fa-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-37095546fa-393525109
vanamonde
(167 posts)Although the Bingham Canyon mine is 3000+ feet deep, that's measured from the "lip" of the hole high up in the Oquirrh Mountains. The bottom of the hole is still well above sea level.
Nevertheless, cool stuff.
A Round Tuit
(88 posts)Everybody knows that Mel's Hole is at least 80,000 feet deep.
Mel said so...on Art Bell's show, back around '97 or so, I think.
He measured it with fishing line and a weight, then the government came in, paid him a huge amount of money for the land, he moved to Australia and the government covered it up.
Sorry, I know it ain't science, but the subject of the OP just reminded me of the story.
William Seger
(10,791 posts)Geoff R. Casavant
(2,381 posts)At least measured in terms of distance from the center of the planet.
There is a mountain in the Andes that is not as high above sea level, but is a greater distance from planet center. Because of the equatorial bulge, sea level is actually higher there than at the more northern latitude of Everest.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/07/mount_chimboraz.html
Panich52
(5,829 posts)One link on this:
http://7summits.com/forum/index.php?topic=381.0