Two mountains 100 times higher than Mount Everest have been discovered: but you will never be able to climb them

Mount Everest has long been considered the highest mountain on Earth, but new research shows that this is not the case. Scientists have now discovered two mountains that are 100 times higher than the iconic Himalayan peak.

However, not a single climber in the world will be able to climb them, as they are buried 1,900 kilometers below the planet's surface. These so-called "Large Low-Shear-Velocity Provinces" stretch to a staggering height of about 997 thousand meters, while the height of Mount Everest is 8848.86 meters, The Sun writes.

These two mountains are located under Africa and the Pacific Ocean and are part of a "cemetery" of tectonic plates buried by subduction, a process where one plate sinks under another.

Scientists began to suspect the existence of these mountains in the 1990s when they noticed that seismic waves from earthquakes slowed down at certain points deep underground. So, to collect more data about these structures, scientists used seismic "x-rays".

"Nobody knew what they were, or whether they were just a temporary phenomenon, or whether they had been there for millions or maybe even billions of years," says Dr. Arwen Deuss, a leading researcher and seismologist at Utrecht University. He explains that these islands are hot, and because of their high viscosity, they don't move very easily, so the mountains have stayed where they are at the base of the mantle for at least a billion years, but possibly much longer.

"They form huge mountains almost 1000 kilometers high and seem to be composed of much larger mineral grains, unlike the fine-grained slabs of rock that exist on the Earth's surface," the scientist says.

According to the scientists, these grains take a huge amount of time to form, which supports the idea that these underground mountains are ancient relics.

However, as tempting as it sounds to scale these giants, human exploration is out of the question. These mountains, located deep inside the Earth, are hotter than their surroundings and inaccessible to any modern technology.

However, their discovery is changing the way scientists understand the internal structure of the planet, as the Earth's mantle cannot be well mixed and it does not flow as fast as previously thought.

So, while Mount Everest may still be the highest mountain you can climb, it is no longer the highest peak in Earth's history.

Moreover, OBOZ.UA previously reported that some scientists do not consider Everest to be the highest peak even on the Earth's surface. This title may well be given to Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano in Hawaii. Its height above sea level is 4205 meters, which does not even reach half of Everest. However, the height of Mauna Kea from the base to the top is 10,211 meters. That is, the volcano is more than a kilometer higher than the legendary Himalayan mountain.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!