Topographic prominence

Topographic isolation and prominence

Topographic prominence is a way to measure the independence of a summit. It is often known simply as prominence. Some also call it autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop (in the United States), or prime factor (in Europe). It is "the elevation difference between the summit and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit".

Two related concepts in topography are col and parent peak. These are used to calculate the prominence. The parent peak is a higher mountain that is often (but not always) nearby. It is chosen using a variety of criteria. The col is the lowest point between two peaks. There may be several cols between a peak and its parent peak, since other peaks may be between the two. The highest of these cols is known as the key col. Prominence is measured as the difference in height between the summit and the key col.

Topographic Prominence Media

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  Figure 1. Vertical arrows show the topographic prominence of three peaks on an island. The dashed horizontal lines show the lowest contours that do not encircle higher peaks. Curved arrows point from a peak to its parent.

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  Figure 2. Showing two closed contour lines meeting at Peak A's key col.

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  Figure 3. Diagram of a mountain range showing peaks and cols, from which mountain parentage and prominences can be determined.

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  Chart showing relationships between the 100 peaks with highest prominence on Earth. (In the SVG version, hover over a peak to highlight its parent(s) and click it to view its article.)

Related pages

• List of mountain peaks by prominence
• Topography
• Topographic isolation

Lists

• List of mountain peaks by prominence
• List of Ultras of Canada
• List of Ultras of Mexico

Other websites

• peaklist.org, a website about mountain prominence, with lists and maps
• Edward Earl’s article on Topographic Prominence
• Mountain Hierarchy using Prominence Islands