Many people would guess the Andes or the Himalayas when asked to name Earth’s longest mountain range. But the much bigger answer lies largely out of sight, deep below the ocean surface.
According to the report, the true record-holder is a massive chain of undersea volcanoes that wraps around the planet for roughly 65,000 kilometers. The range has been compared to the seam on a baseball because of the way it circles the globe, forming an immense continuous system.
What makes it so unfamiliar is its location. More than 90 percent of this mountain belt is hidden beneath the sea, which helps explain why it is far less well known than the world’s most famous land ranges despite its enormous scale.
The story highlights how some of Earth’s largest geological features remain largely unseen by everyday observers. While mountain ranges on land dominate popular imagination, the planet’s longest chain is an underwater volcanic landscape that dwarfs better-known examples in length.
