Denali, also called Mount McKinley, highest peak in North America. It is located near the centre of the Alaska Range, with two summits rising above the Denali Fault, in south-central Alaska, U.S.
Denali’s official elevation figure of 20,310 feet (6,190 metres), established by the United States Geological Survey in September 2015, was the product of a thorough remeasurement of the mountain’s height conducted earlier that year using state-of-the-art equipment. The new value superseded the long-standing figure of 20,320 feet (6,194 metres) that had been the official elevation since the early 1950s. Earlier attempts to measure the mountain’s height had yielded different values. One such survey, conducted in 2010 using advanced radar technology, was made public in September 2013 and gave its elevation as 20,237 feet (6,168 metres). However, that measurement was subsequently determined to be inaccurate.
Denali lies about 130 miles (210 km) north-northwest of Anchorage and some 170 miles (275 km) southwest of Fairbanks in Denali National Park and Preserve. The mountain is essentially a giant block of granite that was lifted above Earth’s crust during a period of tectonic activity that began about 60 million years ago. It rises abruptly some 18,000 feet (5,500 metres) from Denali Fault at its base to the higher, more southerly of its two summits. The upper half of the mountain is covered with permanent snowfields that feed many glaciers, some surpassing 30 miles (48 km) in length.
Credit : Britannica
Picture Credit : Google
