Earth:Topographic isolation

Short description: Topography measuring minimum distance to a point of equal elevation

Topographic isolation and prominence

The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks and can even be calculated for submarine summits.

Isolation table

The following sortable table lists Earth's 40 most topographically isolated summits.

The 40 most topographically isolated summits on Earth
Rank	Summit	Landmass	Country	Elevation
1	Mount Everest	Eurasia	Nepal China	n/a
2	Aconcagua	South America	Argentina (Mendoza)	Tirich Mir (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
3	Denali	North America	United States (Alaska)	Yanamax (Xinjiang, China)
4	Kilimanjaro	Africa	Tanzania	Kuh-e Shashgal (Afghanistan)
5	Puncak Jaya	New Guinea	Indonesia (Papua)	Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yunnan, China)
6	Vinson Massif	Antarctica	Antarctica	Risco Plateado (Mendoza, Argentina)
7	Mont Orohena	Tahiti	French Polynesia	Mount Ngauruhoe (New Zealand)
8	Mauna Kea	Hawai'i	United States (Hawai'i)	Mount Shasta (California, US)
9	Gunnbjørn Fjeld	Greenland	Greenland	The Eiger (Canton of Bern, Switzerland)
10	Aoraki / Mount Cook	South Island	New Zealand	Mount Adam (Victoria Land, Antarctica)
11	Thabana Ntlenyana	Africa	Lesotho	Mount Meru (Tanzania)
12	Maunga Terevaka	Easter Island	Chile	Cerro de Los Inocentes (Alejandro Selkirk Island, Chile)
13	Mont Blanc	Eurasia	France Italy	Kukurtlu Dome (ru) (Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia)
14	Piton des Neiges	Réunion	France	Giant's Castle (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
15	Klyuchevskaya Sopka	Eurasia	Russia (Kamchatka)	Mount Foraker (Alaska, US)
16	Pico de Orizaba	North America	Mexico (Puebla)	Pico Cristóbal Colón (Magdalena Department, Colombia)
17	Queen Mary's Peak	Tristan da Cunha	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Mount Paget (South Georgia Island, UK)
18	Mount Whitney	North America	United States (California )	Nevado de Toluca (State of Mexico, Mexico)
19	Gunung Kinabalu	Borneo	Malaysia (Sabah)	Ngga Pilimsit (Papua, Indonesia)
20	Mount Elbrus	Eurasia	Russia (Kabardino-Balkaria)	Pik Agasis (Tajikistan)
21	Pico da Bandeira	South America	Brazil (Espirito Santo)	Cerro Naranjos (es) (Bolivia)
22	Mont Cameroun	Africa	Cameroon	Mikeno (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
23	Mount Paget	South Georgia	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	Welch Mountains (Palmer Land, Antarctica)
24	Mauga Silisili	Savai'i	Samoa	Tabwemasana (Vanuatu)
25	Nevado Huascarán	South America	Peru	Tres Cruces (Chile/Argentina border)
26	Anamudi	Eurasia	India (Kerala)	Machapuchare (Nepal)
27	Jebel Toubkal	Africa	Morocco	Picco Luigi Amedeo (Italy)
28	Mount Fuji	Honshu	Japan (Chūbu)	Ch'ih-k'e Shan (Taiwan)
29	Emi Koussi	Africa	Chad	Mount Cameroon (Cameroon)
30	Mawson Peak	Heard Island	Mount McMaster (Enderby Land, Antarctica)
31	Mount Mitchell	North America	United States (North Carolina)	Lone Butte (Colorado, US)
32	Gunung Kerinci	Sumatra	Indonesia (West Sumatra)	Gunung Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysia)
33	Joe's Hill	Kiritimati	Kiribati	Puu Ki (Hawaii, US)
34	Agrihan High Point	Agrihan	Northern Mariana Islands	Mount Amagi (Chūbu, Japan)
35	Mount Kosciuszko	Australia	Australia (New South Wales)	Tūtoko (New Zealand)
36	Olavtoppen	Bouvet Island	Edinburgh Peak (Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean)
37	Mascarin Peak	Marion Island	South Africa (Prince Edward Islands)	Cockscomb (Eastern Cape, South Africa)
38	Green Mountain	Ascension Island	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Mount Richard-Molard (Ivory Coast/Guinea border)
39	Gora Narodnaya	Eurasia	Russia (Khanty-Mansi)	Kattotjåkkå (Sweden)
40	Yushan	Taiwan	Taiwan	Peak 4030 (Yunnan, China)

Examples

The nearest peak to Germany's highest mountain, the 2,962-metre-high Zugspitze, that has a 2962-metre-contour is the Zwölferkogel (2,988 m) in Austria's Stubai Alps. The distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km; the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km.
Because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the Earth over the poles or – questionably, because there is no agreed definition – as half the Earth's circumference.
After Mount Everest, Aconcagua, the highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no higher land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush.
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps. The geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. Kukurtlu Dome (ru) (4,978 m) is the reference peak for Mont Blanc.
Musala is the highest peak in Rila mountain, also in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula mountain system; standing at 2,925 m (9,596 ft) it is the 4th most topographically isolated major peak in Continental Europe.^[1]^[2] With a topographic prominence of 2473 m, Musala is also the 6th highest peak by topographic prominence in mainland Europe.^[3]

Gallery

1. Mount Everest is the highest mountain peak on Earth.
2. Aconcagua is the highest peak in both the Southern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.
3. Denali is the highest peak of North America.
4. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak of Africa.
5. Puncak Jaya on New Guinea is the highest peak on any ocean island.
6. The Vinson Massif is the highest peak of Antarctica.
7. Mont Orohena on Tahiti is the highest peak of French Polynesia.
8. Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaiʻi is the tallest mountain on Earth as measured from base on seafloor to summit.
9. Gunnbjørn Fjeld on Greenland is the highest peak of the Arctic.
10. Aoraki, or Mount Cook, on the South Island is the highest peak in New Zealand.
11. Thabana Ntlenyana in Lesotho is the highest point in southern Africa.
12. Ma′unga Terevaka is the highest point on Easter Island.
13. Mont Blanc is the highest peak of Western Europe.
14. Piton des Neiges is the apex of Réunion.
15. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is the highest peak of Kamchatka.
16. Pico de Orizaba is the highest peak of Mexico.
17. Queen Mary's Peak is the highest point on the Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha.
18. Mount Whitney is the highest peak of the contiguous United States.
19. Gunung Kinabalu is the apex of Borneo.
20. Mount Elbrus is the highest peak of Europe.
21. Pico da Bandeira is the third highest peak of Brazil .
22. Mount Cameroon is the highest peak of Cameroon.
23. Mount Paget on South Georgia is the highest peak in the South Atlantic Ocean.