Talk:Mauna Kea

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Since there is snow there in the winter months, I think im going to Hawaii with my snowboard and my hiking boots! Boarding in Hawaii, Far Out! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.114.91.249 (talk) 00:33, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Base to Peak

What is meant by "base to peak"? Surely Everest is still the highest mountain if we take 'base' to mean the lowest point on the Earth's surface? ~~Everett~~

The base of Mauna Kea is several thousand metres below sea level. Viewfinder 23:05, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

How do you define 'base'? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Everettt (talk • contribs) 00:26, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

The base of Mauna Kea is below sea level, as it is part of the island of Hawai'i. Most other mountains, like Everest, just jutt up from the earth's surface. They don't extend below sea level.

"Base to peak" The base of a mountain is the origin of it, the lowest point of the mountain. Mauna Kea's origin (base) is several thousand meters below sea level. The Pacific Ocean is very deep (contains the deepest sea floor point in the world). Hawaii's island chain can effectively be classed as a mountain ridge with the base at the sea floor. It forms through volcanic activity between the plates where magma from the mantle can seep through. Consider it to be a volcano with most of the mountain below sea level. The peak of course, is the tip of the mountain. The highest point. The Himalayas were formed by India crashing slowly into Asia. Because there was a little water between India and Asia while the collision took place, you will find fish fossils at the peak of the Himalayas (just some interesting info). Mount Everest's base-peak is much lower than Maunt Kea but it has the highest point above sea level. (Sorry it's late, hope I'm making sense) (KMckelvin 21:08, 31 May 2006 (UTC)KMckelvinKMckelvin 21:08, 31 May 2006 (UTC))

Makes complete sense, and it's a pretty simple concept to grasp. Think of a guy who's 7 feet tall, and a guy who's 6 feet tall and is standing on a 2 foot chair. The 7-footer (Mauna Kea) is bigger from base to top. The 6-footer on the 2-foot chair (Everest) has a higher "peak." CM.65.102.39.98 20:10, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm afraid the concept is not simple enough for me. You can say the lowest point of a guy standing on a chair is his feet, but how do you define the lowest point of a mountain? From that point of view, you can say that Mount Everest is a little mountain of 4'000 meters which is standing on Tibet (average altitude 4'900). Or you can say that its base is at sea level, which makes it 8'800 meters high. Or since the Himalaya is formed by India crashing into Asia, you can say that its base is inside the Indian Ocean, average depth 3'890 meters, making it 12'600 meters high. And why not define Mauna Kea as a 4'000 meters mountain standing on an island? To make it perfectly clear: What is the exact definition of the "base" of the mountain? 142.157.15.84 (talk) 01:02, 6 December 2007 (UTC)


It appears that an attempt was made to clarify "base to peak" in the article, but to me it has only added to the confusion. The article contains this sentence: "Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world when measured from base to summit, since its base is located on the seafloor... bringing its total height to about 33,000 ft" OK so far, but then it is followed by: "Mt. Lam Lam on Guam is 37,533 feet when measured from its base in the Mariana Trench" Oops! So why isn't Mt. Lam Lam the tallest mountain in the world when measured from base to summit?Enduser (talk) 20:14, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How tall is Mauna Kea?

Since Mauna Kea's claim to fame is being the biggest mountain in the world from base to peak, I think it's a glaring omission not to include its base-to-peak height alongside its elevation above sea level. I think I am going to tend to this; it's pretty key. Stay tuned. C.M.65.102.39.98 20:10, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] English spellings (of Hawaiian words) are correct in an English article

I edited the article to use English spellings consistently. It's not an article about Hawaiian language, so there's no need to use any Hawaiian spellings. The explanation that mauna kea means "white mountain" is relevant, and correctly done with italics for the Hawaiian words. Other than that, there's no relevance for Hawaiian spellings in this particular article. There is nothing bad or wrong about using English spellings in an English article. So any font character representing a Hawaiian glottal stop ("okina") should be simply omitted in English. (That also easily solves the problem of the character which does not display properly in the most widely used browser.) Instead of the vowel with macron accent, used in Hawaiian spelling, simply use the regular unaccented vowel for English spelling of Hawaiian words. If the Hawaiian spelling for wekiu (for the bug) absolutely must be given (for some unknown reason), then it can be done in italics within parentheses with proper notice to the reader that it is the Hawaiian spelling, for example: "... the wekiu bug (in Hawaiian, wēkiu means 'summit')...". The English spelling (wekiu) is used, and the Hawaiian spelling (wēkiu) can be supplied in addition, if really needed. Agent X 21:18, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Can somebody add a standard English English prnunciation guide by any chance to the title? 212.124.247.77 11:49, 15 October 2006 (UTC)