South America
Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America and the highest peak in the western hemisphere, was long considered to be a volcano, but the current geological consensus is that the mountain consists of uplifted rocks of volcanic origin which did not erupt into its current form, so it is not a volcano.
Although topographic maps of the Chile and Argentina border region which contains the highest peaks are of notoriously poor accuracy, with elevation errors exceeding 100 metres (330 ft) in many cases, the current consensus based on the most recent measurements places Ojos del Salado as the 2nd highest peak and highest volcano in South America, significantly higher than Monte Pissis.
Read more about this topic: Volcanic Seven Summits, Definitions
Famous quotes containing the words south america, south and/or america:
“Indeed, I believe that in the future, when we shall have seized again, as we will seize if we are true to ourselves, our own fair part of commerce upon the sea, and when we shall have again our appropriate share of South American trade, that these railroads from St. Louis, touching deep harbors on the gulf, and communicating there with lines of steamships, shall touch the ports of South America and bring their tribute to you.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one. To be able to recognize a freak, you have to have some conception of the whole man, and in the South the general conception of man is still, in the main, theological.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“Nature in America has always been suspect, on the defensive, cannibalized by progress. In America, every specimen becomes a relic.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)