Mount Everest is considered the world’s tallest mountain peak. It lies on the border of Tibet and Nepal, at an elevation of 8848 meters or 29032 feet from sea level. Because of its extreme height, some questions about its existence have always arisen. Is Mount Everest a volcano or a mountain?
Is Mount Everest an active or dead volcano?
Well, the answer is that Mount Everest is neither an active nor dead volcano. Some of the world’s tall peaks such as Mount Fuji, Mount Aconcagua, and Mount Kilimanjaro are considered volcanoes. However, Mount Everest is entirely a folded mountain in the Himalayan range. None of the peaks in the Himalayan range, including Mt. Everest can be considered a volcano of any kind.
Why is Mount Everest not a volcano?
The main reason why Mount Everest is not a volcano can be explained based on its geographical formation. Volcanos are mainly formed when the molten rocks and lava are moved inside the Earth’s surface. Contrary to this, Mountains are formed when the tectonic plates collide and a surface gets raised. Mount Everest is also formed due to the concussion between the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indian tectonic plate. When the Indian plate got wrecked into the Eurasian plate, a certain area of Earth’s surface raised. This caused the formation of the Himalayan range, Mount Everest being one of them.
Apart from the geographical formation, the answer to Mount Everest being a volcano can also be given based on the composition of the mountains and volcanoes. Volcanoes are integrated of lava flows, ash, pumice, pyroclastic materials, and volcanic glasses. Meanwhile, the Himalayas and mountain peaks are usually combined of folded rocks, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks.
Is there a mountain or volcano taller than Mount Everest?
Mount Everest is the tallest peak on the Earth, but not in the solar system. A mountain named Olympus Mons, a volcano on Mars, is three times the height of Mount Everest. Its total recorded dimension is approx. 21,287 meters in height and 600 km in width, making it the tallest and largest mountain peak or a shield volcano in the entire solar system.
