Concept

Mount Kinabalu

Summary
Mount Kinabalu (Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun: Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu) is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is third-highest peak of an island on Earth, and 20th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence. The mountain is located in Ranau district, West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site. In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low's Peak) height at above sea level, which is some less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of . The mountain and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5,000 and 6,000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified. Among this rich collection of wildlife are famous species such as the gigantic Rafflesia plants and orangutans. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status. Low's Peak can be climbed by a person in good physical condition and there is no need for mountaineering equipment at any point on the main route, but climbers must be accompanied by accredited guides at all times due to national park regulations and may experience altitude sickness. Mount Kinabalu is essentially a massive pluton formed from granodiorite which is intrusive into sedimentary and ultrabasic rocks, and forms the central part, or core, of the Kinabalu massif. The granodiorite is intrusive into strongly folded strata, probably of Eocene to Miocene age, and associated ultrabasic and basic igneous rocks. It was pushed up from the earth's crust as molten rock millions of years ago. In geological terms, it is a very young mountain as the granodiorite cooled and hardened only about 10 million years ago. The present landform is considered to be a mid-Pliocene peneplain, arched and deeply dissected, through which the Kinabalu granodiorite body has risen in isostatic adjustment. It is still pushing up at the rate of per annum.
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