As describe byBritish Antarctic Survey ( BAS ) , the tallest mountain in the UK – include its overseas territories – is no longer Mount Jackson . No , it ’s not even Ben Nevis , which at the height of 1,345 meters ( 4,412 invertebrate foot ) , is the gamey in the British Isles .
Overseas , Antarctica ’s Mount Jackson at 3,184 meters ( 10,446 infantry ) was the winner , until now . That accolade suddenly belong to Mount Hope , also found on the Antarctica peninsula . At a height of 3,239 cadence ( 10,627 foot ) , it ’s officially the highest mountain peak in a territory owned by the UK .
So waitress – what ’s choke on here ? It ’s not like Mount Hope has just been discovered , and althoughearthquakescan cause mountains to abruptly alter peak , this is n’t to blame here . In any cause , a alteration of height of 379 meter ( 1,243 foot ) arguably can not be triggered by any natural process . It ’s not a case ofconfused nomenclatureeither .
Funnily enough , the alteration was made because we are historically abominable at assess mountains . It ’s not merely a case of getting the long slide formula ever and dropping it from the peak all the way down to itssea story base , because that would be most silly and highly Laputan .
Traditionally , mountains are mensurate using a second of trigonometry . Using a ground - base distance and the angle between the superlative and the two point , an estimate would be throw .
This , as you could imagine , is not quite as accurate with mountains as it is with tiny Triangulum on a piece of paper . Generally speaking , mountains were measured multiple times using this method acting , and the height was the average of them all .
Eventually , this technique was supervene upon – or augment , really – using satellite technology . As explained over atLive scientific discipline , the occupation of sight between satellites and communication tug / transponders provide for far more precise measurements of mountain heights .
The curve and strange pumpkin-shaped ellipsoid of revolution shape of the planet complicates things further , though , which need to be correcting during or after the measurements are made using a miscellanea of algorithmic program . This means that , in some instances , summit have been underestimated , which is apparently what happened with regards to Mount Hope .
Worried about fender who may misjudge where the mountain may be in the clouds , cartographers at the BAS decided to reassess the height of the mountains within Britain ’s Antarctic quarter-circle .
First , they used the mostup - to - date satellite data , and aggregate it with digital superlative models ( DEMs ) , which are 3D replication of the landscape based on the dependable available data . When it look as if Mount Hope was indeed higher than Mount Jackson , they make a “ bolt down - up ” view of the realm using photographs taken from several different angles .
Side by side , it was clear : Leslie Townes Hope work over Jackson by around 50 meters ( 160 feet ) .
