<p>Perhaps due to Gaillard Cut/Culebra Cut (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culebra_Cut" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culebra_Cut</a>). I presume this is probably an artificial reduction in height of the col.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-11T02:03:08.153Z
2022-09-11T02:03:08.153Z
Ian
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>The Denali (Mount McKinley) is Earth's third most prominent mountain.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_peaks_by_prominence" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a>, It has a height of 6,191 meters, a prominence of 6,144 meters, and a &quot;col&quot; of 6,191 - 6,144 = 47 meters. Checks out!</p>
<p>I assume the lowest point on the &quot;mountain ridge&quot; connecting the two peaks must be somewhere in the Panama Canal, or at least it cannot be higher than that. From what I found, Gatun Lake is the highest place in the Panama Canal.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatun_Lake" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a>, Gatun Lake has a surface elevation of 26m. This is less than the 47 I found for the &quot;col&quot; between Denali and Aconcagua.</p>
<p>So where do the 47m come from?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-14T07:42:25.270Z
Wikipedia also has: "The key col of Denali in Alaska (6,194 m) is a 56 m col near Lake Nicaragua (unless one accepts the Panama Canal as a key col; this is a matter of contention). [...] Note that, for the purposes of this article, man made structures such as the Panama Canal are not taken into account. If they were, the key col would be along the 26 m Gaillard Cut and Denali would have a prominence of 6,168 m." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_prominence
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-17T20:57:59.450Z
Good find! This also implies that there must be an elevation along the Panama canal that they had to dig through that is higher than 56m.
donquixote
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-17T20:59:25.847Z
@Jean-MariePrival If you want to create a reply with this info, I will accept it. Any additional factoids you want to include in there are welcome :)
donquixote
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-15T10:44:01.477Z
At Wikipedia it is mentioned the Col location at [link](https://www.google.com/maps/place//@9.1634032,-79.9228517,14.75z/data=!5m1!1e4?hl=en&entry=ttu) at Darien Gap
David García Bodego
<geography>
Lowest point between Denali and Aconcagua
donquixote
# Lowest point between Denali and Aconcagua

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-14)

## Background

The Denali (Mount McKinley) is Earth's third most prominent mountain.

According to [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_peaks_by_prominence), It has a height of 6,191 meters, a prominence of 6,144 meters, and a "col" of 6,191 - 6,144 = 47 meters. Checks out!

I assume the lowest point on the "mountain ridge" connecting the two peaks must be somewhere in the Panama Canal, or at least it cannot be higher than that. From what I found, Gatun Lake is the highest place in the Panama Canal.

According to [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatun_Lake), Gatun Lake has a surface elevation of 26m. This is less than the 47 I found for the "col" between Denali and Aconcagua.

So where do the 47m come from?

**Tags:** geography

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Wikipedia also has: "The key col of Denali in Alaska (6,194 m) is a 56 m col near Lake Nicaragua (unless one accepts the Panama Canal as a key col; this is a matter of contention). [...] Note that, for the purposes of this article, man made structures such as the Panama Canal are not taken into account. If they were, the key col would be along the 26 m Gaillard Cut and Denali would have a prominence of 6,168 m." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographic_prominence  
> **username_0**: Good find! This also implies that there must be an elevation along the Panama canal that they had to dig through that is higher than 56m.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 If you want to create a reply with this info, I will accept it. Any additional factoids you want to include in there are welcome :)  
> **username_2**: At Wikipedia it is mentioned the Col location at [link](https://www.google.com/maps/place//@9.1634032,-79.9228517,14.75z/data=!5m1!1e4?hl=en&entry=ttu) at Darien Gap  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-09-11. Score: 0

Perhaps due to Gaillard Cut/Culebra Cut (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culebra_Cut>). I presume this is probably an artificial reduction in height of the col.


---

