One of the main reasons for the fact that is very unlikely for mountains to rise taller than the Mount Everest on Earth is because, mountains give way under their own weight because of the high geothermal gradient in the crust.
- The geothermal gradient, which is unchanged from the paleo-geothermal gradient, is the rate of increase in temperature per unit depth in the Earth's interior caused by the core heat flow.
- In much of the world, it is approximately 25 °C every mile of depth (1 °F per 70 feet of depth) outside of tectonic plate borders.
- At oceanic spreading centers (mid-ocean ridges) or island arcs where magma is near to the surface, the largest gradients—40–80 K km1—are measured.
- The subduction zones, where cold lithosphere sinks into the mantle, have the lowest gradients.
- Old stable continental crust has a gradient of 20–30 K km1.
From the above, it is clear why mountains taller than the Mount Everest, are unlikely to arise on Earth.
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