![]() ![]() The resulting shape is often called an “oblate ellipsoid”: slightly flatter at the poles and bulgier at the equator than you’d expect. Imagine hula-hooping for a few hours after a big Thanksgiving dinner and you’ll get the idea. The combined effects of gravity and rotational centrifugal force have pushed the Earth’s mass outward around its middle. Well, it’s round- ish, but it’s not a sphere. So how is the 30-somethingth highest mountain in the Andes simultaneously the highest point on Earth? The central problem here is that Pythagoras, Columbus, and your elementary school teachers were all wrong: Earth isn’t really round. In fact, there are almost 40 more impressive mountains in South America, many of which (like Aconcagua, the continent’s highest peak) are located farther south, near the Chile-Argentina border. ![]() ![]() Chimborazo is Ecuador’s highest point, but in terms of elevation, it’s far from the highest peak in the Andes. Mount Chimborazo is an Andean stratovolcano in central Ecuador, looming so impressively over the country that, on a clear day, you can see it all the way from the large port city of Guayaquil, 90 miles away. ![]()
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