More articles by

Rekha Dixit
Rekha Dixit

SCIENCE

Height check: Mt Everest to be remeasured

QUAKE-EVEREST/ NEP203 Mount Everest | Reuters

Survey of India to celebrate its 250th anniversary by an expedition to check if the 2015 earthquake affected the height of the tallest peak in the world

Is the Mt Everest a growing boy or is it just a wee bit worn off the top? After the  2015 earthquake that razed a large chunk of Nepal, the geological circle has been divided over what happened to the tallest peak in the world. One school of thought says, being in a young fold mountain that is still in its growing phase, the peak could have been pushed up by the plate tectonics by a few millimeters, while another believes that the mountain could have sunk or tipped over slightly to affect its height. 

It's time for a height check again, anyway, feels the Indian government, and it wants to launch a joint scientific expedition with Nepal to remeasure the mountain's height. Union minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan said that this expedition would mark the 250th anniversary of the Survey of India, the oldest scientific institute in India, which had first measured the height of the peak in 1855. 

The scientists will use two methods to measure the peak. One will be the old-fashioned trigonometric method, with triangulation points at seven different locations in Nepal and India for enhanced accuracy. This was the way the peak was first measured. The other method will be to scale the peak with the help of Global Positioning System instruments .

“We have started the diplomatic proceedings with Nepal. As soon as the paperwork is done, we hope to launch the expedition in the first window available for scaling the peak,” Swarna Subba Rao, surveyor general of India said. 

Radhenath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician who had worked with what was then known as the Great Trigonometric Survey on measuring the heights of Himalayan peaks, first discovered that Peak XV was the tallest in the world. This peak was subsequently named after George Everest, the erstwhile surveyor general of India.

In 1956, the Survey of India rechecked the height of the peak, and confirmed that it was still 8,848 metres above sea level, and as such, the highest peak in the world.

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.

Related Reading

    Show more