Earth:Topographic isolation

Short description: Minimum horizontal distance to a point of equal elevation

The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum horizontal 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. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, has an undefined isolation, since there are no higher points to reference.^[1]

Because topographic isolation can be difficult to determine, a common approximation is the distance to a peak called the nearest higher neighbour (NHN).^[2]

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

Examples

The nearest peak to Germany's highest mountain, the 2,962-metre (9,718 ft) high Zugspitze, that has a 2,962-metre (9,718 ft) contour is the 2,988-metre (9,803 ft) Zwölferkogel in Austria's Stubai Alps. The distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 kilometres (16 mi); the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 kilometres (16 mi). Its isolation is thus 25.8 kilometres (16 mi).
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 Americas, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no higher land for 16,534 kilometres (10,274 mi). 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 metres (16,332 ft), 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 fourth-most topographically isolated major peak in Continental Europe.^[3] With a topographic prominence of 2,473 metres (8,114 ft), Musala is also the sixth-highest peak by topographic prominence in mainland Europe.^[4]

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.