Olympus Mons on Mars: The Largest Volcano
Explanation:
The largest volcano in the Solar System is on Mars.
Olympus Mons rises 24 kilometers high and
measures 550 km across.
By comparison,
Earth's largest volcano,
Mauna Loa in
Hawaii, rises
9 km high and measures 120 km across. Such
large
volcanoes can exist on
Mars because of the low gravity and lack of surface tectonic motion.
Olympus Mons is a
shield volcano, built by fluid lava. Over the next three years,
Mars Global Surveyor, which arrived at
Mars last week,
will photograph the planet at such high resolution
that objects only 100 meters across will be visible.
The above image was taken by
Mariner 9, which orbited and photographed
Mars during 1971 and 1972.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
