Mouse mummies point to mammalian life in 'Mars-like' Andes

The dry, wind-swept summits of volcanoes in the Puna de Atacama of Chile and Argentina are the closest thing on Earth to the surface of Mars due to their thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures. At their extreme elevations ...

Glaciers can give us clues about when a volcano might erupt

Globally, there is about one volcano erupting each week. Volcanic unrest kills an average of 500 people every year and costs the global economy roughly US$7 billion (£5.7 billion). With one in 20 people living somewhere ...

New Aristolochiaceae liana species found in Yunnan, China

Traditionally, the genus Aristolochia L. sensu lato is the largest genus in the family Aristolochiaceae. According to recent morphological and phylogenetic studies, Aristolochia subgen. Siphisia has been reintroduced as a ...

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Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point[citation needed], most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic system, vertical datum). Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a spacecraft in orbit, and depth is used for points below the surface.

Less commonly, elevation is measured using the center of the Earth as the reference point. Due to equatorial bulge, there is debate as to which of the summits of Mt. Everest or Chimborazo is at the higher elevation, as the Chimborazo summit is further from the Earth's center while the Mt. Everest summit is higher above mean sea level.

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