Yushan (mountain)

Yushan
Jade Mountain
Yushan from the North Peak
Highest point
Elevation	3,952 m (12,966 ft)
Prominence	3,952 m (12,966 ft)  Ranked 27th
Isolation	1,815 kilometres (1,128 mi)
Listing	Country high point Ultra 100 Peaks of Taiwan
Coordinates	23°28′12″N 120°57′26.16″E / 23.47000°N 120.9572667°E / 23.47000; 120.9572667Coordinates: 23°28′12″N 120°57′26.16″E / 23.47000°N 120.9572667°E / 23.47000; 120.9572667
Geography
Yushan The location of Yushan (Yushan National Park)
Location	The border on Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung/ Alishan, Chiayi County/ Xinyi, Nantou County, Taiwan
Parent range	Yushan Range
Climbing
First ascent	1898 by German explorer Karl Theodor Stöpel
Easiest route	Maintained trail, snow/ice climb during some winter months

Yushan (Chinese: 玉山; pinyin: Yù Shān; literally: "Jade Mountain"), also Mount Jade or Mount Yu, is the highest mountain in Taiwan and the fourth highest mountain on an island. The obsolete name of Mount Morrison is thought to have been named in honor of the 19th century missionary Robert Morrison. Today, the mountain is generally referred to as Yushan or Mt. Jade.

In the winter, Yushan is often capped with thick snow which makes the entire peak shine like stainless jade, hence its name. On July 21, 2009, Yushan was elected one of 28 finalists in the New7Wonders of Nature voting campaign. It even had held the top position in the “Mountains and Volcanoes” category on the list of first round voting of the 77 nominees ended on July 7, 2009.

Yushan and surrounding mountains belong to Yushan Range, which is part of Yushan National Park. The national park is Taiwan's largest, highest and least accessible national park. It contains the largest tract of wilderness remaining in Taiwan and is also valued for its pristine forests and faunal diversity, including many endemic species.

The highest point of Yushan Range, Yushan, is 3,952 metres (12,966 ft) above sea level, and is the highest point in the western Pacific region outside of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Yushan was once in the ocean and raised to the current height because the Eurasian Plate slid over the neighboring Philippine Sea Plate.

The ocean waters off Taiwan's east coast are deep; in fact, submarine slopes plunge down to the Pacific Ocean at a grade of 1:10 and the ocean reaches a depth of more than 4,000 metres (13,100 ft) about 50 kilometres (30 mi) from the coast.

The island of Taiwan is situated at the intersection of two tectonic plates – the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. Even as “recently” as the late Paleozoic (some 250 million years ago), the land here was still but a sedimentary seabed layered with silt and sand. As the two plates began pressing against each other, the land buckled, bent, and created the landscape – 165 mountains higher than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level on a small island (38th in the world).