From Base to Summit, Mauna Kea is the Tallest Mountain on Earth at Over 33,500 feet (10,210 meters)

Enjoy the thin air, snowy peaks, and spectacular views of the lunar landscape above the clouds at Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai'i with geology professor Shawn Willsey. Learn about the mountain's geologic history of volcanoes and glaciers.
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[@patrickkillilea5225]

Surreal. Imagine what is like up there at night... In the dark. With all the stars above.

[@pauldietz1325]

Another reason the telescopes are there is because the broad, smooth shield volcanoes, out in the middle of the ocean, don't induce as much atmospheric turbulence as other locations might. Turbulence causes density fluctuations that produce twinkling, which blurs images.

[@cann5565]

Scintillation

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

@@cann5565 Actually, it's called chromatic aberration. Scintillation is flashes of visible or ultraviolet light emitted by fluorescence in a phosphor when struck by a charged particle or high-energy photon. Not quite the same thing.

[@bkaufmanmba]

Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for your kind donation. Glad you liked the video.

[@greenman6141]

Such incredible sights. The huge Mauna Loa in the background, the clouds below. Other worldly.

[@shawnwillsey]

Indeed.

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

At 10,000 feet asl, over 2/3 of the atmosphere is below you. At ~9:57 you point the camera upwards, where you can see the sky is darker. That's outer space. I've been on mountain tops in Colorado above 14,000 feet asl where you can see the darkness of space directly above your head-in the daytime.

[@hunt4redoctober628]

I remember going up Pikes Peak (14,300ft ASL) in Colorado Springs some 25 years ago now. I was amazed at how out of breath I was just walking a short distance at the top. Certainly caught me unawares for sure.

[@muzikhed]

Very nice tour, very interesting, thanks. This will always be a big memory for your students, what a great trip they must be having !

[@valoriel4464]

Thx Prof. Your vid is greatly appreciated. ✌🏻

[@Anne5440_]

Thanks for taking me a place I dreamed of going as a teen! I knew there are telescopes there, but didn't know there are so many. The view of the two stages of shield volcanos gives me a visual to help fix the differences in my mind. I have been to Newberry crater in Oregon. I forget which volcano in Hawaii used to have a ski area on it. Seeing the snow there reminded me of Hawaiian students I knew in college. 1967 I was a freshman at CWU in Ellensburg WA. In my dorm lived several Hawaiian students who had never seen snow. The first night it snowed they ran outside to play. Announcements were made for their roommates to take their coats out to them. I did not knew there had been a glacier in Hawaii. Those islands have an amazing geologic history. Great video!

[@sdmike1141]

Thanks! Mauna Kea v Mauna Loa! “Older” v “newer”. Cinder cones v shield volcano. Nice!!

[@shawnwillsey]

Much appreciated.

[@BN6499]

According to the USGS HVO website, Mauna Kea last erupted between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago.

[@davidk7324]

Thanks for this, Shawn. About 15 years ago I drove up Haleakalā on Maui early one morning. Similar, but different -- and it was clear enough to permit a glimpse of Mauna Kea.

[@richardkaz2336]

Couldn't it be argued that from the bottom of the Marianas Trench to the top of Everest confirms Everest and the tallest. It all depends where you consider the base is.

[@brianpeers]

Thanks so much Shawn, your videography is excellent. So so fascinating scenery of a place we scientifically minded people are all aware of but with your documentation it takes it to another level.

[@sandrine.t]

Wow! Thank you for taking us up there, Shawn! It's absolutely breathtaking... Volcano and stargazing, my 2 favorite things together, definitely my kind of place, just awesome! I didn't know there were so many telescopes up there. Wish I could go...

[@ThePaleozoicGuy]

I can only imagine how hard it would be to breathe up there from someone who has lived near sea level their entire life.

[@375santa]

That's right!

[@oceanfambam8105]

Amazing Shawn. Had heard it snows in Hawaii but had never seen it. Really amazing views and interesting geology. Would be a great trip for your students.

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

When snow sublimates into little ice balls like that it's called 'firn.' -Mr. Know It All. Lol.

[@lauram9478]

❤

[@jimc.goodfellas]

You get to do all the cool stuff!

[@Peachtreedishes]

It’s soo beautiful and surreal. I didn’t know there was snow up there.

[@7inrain]

Very windy.

[@ttonysbirds]

Wow thank you

[@bobbyadkins885]

I wonder how hard it was to build a large telescope up there, seems like it would be difficult to get a solid foundation to build on

[@bottomup12]

Amazing views of God’s creation

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for your kind donation. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@HiwasseeRiver]

Looking at the island profile from the seafloor up - isn't the mountain skinny compared to other mountains on a mass/height ratio? Looking at it as an engineer it's a very efficient structure compared to stocky, heavy mountains.

[@Kangaroo_Caught]

Can I suggest a different measure for the tallest mountain on earth? What about the height of the peak above the mantle?

[@kevinkoll2420]

Thank You for the video, How is it that it appears that the volcano has like a real flat surface? I know you are on the upper section, but below you it looks like a flat table top.

[@johnnash5118]

What’s the tallest (not highest) terrestrial mountain, base to summit in the world? Mount Kilimanjaro, with a base elevation @2,500’ and a summit elevation @19,341’, it is also a volcano.

[@willss6027]

No, the Big Island is tallest starting at 16,000' BELOW sea level to almost 14,000' above.

[@SkepticalRaptor]

I didn’t realize that there were that many telescopes on that mountain. It looked like there were at least 20.

[@vanman798]

In fact, wouldn't every mountain be on a contour line, eventually, that was under the ocean?

[@jadesea562]

and dont ride your brakes on the way down. I drove a sports car up to see the perseid meteor shower in 2016, and it didnt occur to me that riding the brakes on the way down from the summit would overheat the rotors and totally warp them. So my sports car turned into a full body vibrator every time I needed to brake after that. Very stupid, just low gear it lol.

[@quantumcat7673]

''Why is this mountain the tallest mountain on Earth'' That's because there is a very active volcanic plume (hotspot) under it. Why is there a volcanic plume at this place? I hope you could answer this question!

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

Someone should climb Mauna Kea from the base to the top.

[@frankd5871]

Your videos with explanations re' how the mountains/rocks came about are very well presented - enjoyable learning. Prior to watching the Mauna Kea video I watched this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/q327mIiep9GSZqM which I enjoyed very much. Munros in Scotland it'd have been good to have had your commentary regarding the formations/history shown on the video. Perhaps the video maker would welcome the addition of your commentary.

[@vanman798]

Yea but that is not meaningful because mountains are measured by their elevation ABOVE sea level. Has anyone dived down to the "base" of Mauna Kea and attempted to hike under water?

[@bobbyadkins885]

Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thank you!

[@ReclinedPhysicist]

Thanks!

[@shawnwillsey]

Thanks for your kind donation!

[@3xHermes]

Thanks!