What is Sea Level?
FREE FACT: An oblate spheroid is a special case of an ellipsoid where two of the semi-principal axes are the same size. A special thanks to our Subbable.com supporters: Robby Weisenfeld Gustav...
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Sea level seems like a pretty easy concept, right? You just measure the average levelof the oceans and that's that. But what about parts of the earth where there aren't oceans?For example, when we say that Mt. Everest is 8850m above sea level, how do we know whatsea level would be beneath Mt. Everest, since there's no sea for hundreds of kilometers?If the earth were flat then things would be easy - we'd just draw a straight line throughthe average height of the oceans and be done with it. But the earth isn't flat.If the earth were spherical, it would be easy, too, because we could just measure the averagedistance from the center of the earth to the surface of the ocean. But the earth isn'tspherical - it's spinni...
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Sea level seems like a pretty easy concept, right? You just measure the average levelof the oceans and that's that. But what about parts of the earth where there aren't oceans?For example, when we say that Mt. Everest is 8850m above sea level, how do we know whatsea level would be beneath Mt. Everest, since there's no sea for hundreds of kilometers?If the earth were flat then things would be easy - we'd just draw a straight line throughthe average height of the oceans and be done with it. But the earth isn't flat.If the earth were spherical, it would be easy, too, because we could just measure the averagedistance from the center of the earth to the surface of the ocean. But the earth isn'tspherical - it's spinni...
