Aconcagua mountain, known as the “roof” of America, has a new
official height of 6,980.8 meters (22,822 feet), a measurement
slightly higher than it had more than 50 years ago, researchers
said Monday. The official altitude of Aconcagua was previously
considered to be 6,959.6 meters (22,818 feet), according to
measurements taken by University of Buenos Aires scientists in
1956. The new height “cannot be compared” to the previous one
because “the technology used for the measurement is totally
different,” Argentine National Geographic Institute, or IGN,
scientist Sergio Cimbaro told Efe. “We can’t say that the
mountain increased in height because the measurement
technologies cannot be compared. On the other hand, we will be
able to compare the height from now on thanks to the
installation during the expedition of a GPS (global positioning
system) on the peak,” Cimbaro said. This system will permit “a
more detailed monitoring of the Andes mountains,” the backbone
of South America, the result of colliding tectoni