Mount Hope named UK's new highest peak

British authorities have named Mount Hope as the country's new highest peak, a media report said on Monday.

Hope, which is sited in the part of the Antarctic claimed by the UK, was recently re-measured and found to tower above the previous title holder, Mount Jackson, by 160ft, reports the BBC.

Hope is now put at 10,626ft and Jackson at 10,446ft.

The map-makers at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) were prompted to take another look at the mountains because of concerns for the safety of pilots flying across the White Continent.

"In Antarctica there are no roads, so to get around you have to fly planes. And if you're flying planes you really need to know where the mountains are and how high they are," said Peter Fretwell from BAS.

"There have been plane crashes on the continent and we believe some of them may have been due to poor mapping."

As well as giving Mount Hope its new status, the reassessment has provided a more complete description of the relief across the quadrant of Antarctica claimed by Britain.

This encompasses the long peninsula that stretches north towards South America, the BBC reported.

Some of its mountains have now been "moved" up to 5km to position them more accurately on future maps.

Mount Vinson, which sits just outside the British Antarctic Territory, remains the undisputed tallest peak on the continent at 16,049ft.

--IANS

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