A GPS measurement confirms that the Ecuadorian volcano is the furthest point from the Earth's center
With this new system, the researchers have determined that the height above sea level of this volcano is 6,263.47 meters (five meters less than previously estimated!). But it has also been possible to determine with maximum precision the distance from the center of the Earth . "We can define the distance between the center of the earth and the summit of Chimborazo, which is 6,384,415.98 meters. Chimborazo remains the farthest point from the center of the Earth ”, has declared the researcher of the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and member of the mission Jean Mathieu Nocquet .
How has he managed to surpass Everest by measuring from the center of the earth? "Actually the planet is not a sphere, it is an ellipsoid, we must take into account that There is a thirty kilometer difference between the polar radius and the equatorial radius. l”, explains Antonio Casas. What we define is known as flattened at the poles.
Landscapes in Chimborazo
“In this way there is more distance from the center of the Earth to sea level in Ecuador than with respect to the distance from the center of the Earth to the Pole. Chimborazo is almost on the Equator , at latitude -1º, the sum of its height plus the radius of the Earth at the equator gives more kilometers than the sum of the height of Everest plus the radius of the Earth at 27º north latitude (which is the latitude at which Everest is found) ”, describes Marcos Aurell, a geologist at the University of Zaragoza.
Both scientists agree that this type of measurement will not be extended as a reference . "I think it's like curiosity, it's fine, but they don't make any topographical sense," Casas believes. " It wouldn't be practical !” adds Aurell. By the way, as a curiosity, do you know where is the reference that is taken as sea level in Spain? Alicante!
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