Olympus Mons and a few other volcanoes in the Tharsis region stand high enough to reach above the frequent Martian dust-storms recorded by telescopic observers as early as the 19th century. The astronomer Patrick Moore pointed out that Schiaparelli (1835–1910) "had found that his "Nodus Gordis" and "Olympic Snow" [Nix Olympica] were almost the only features to be seen" during dust storms, and "guessed correctly that they must be high". The Mariner 9 spacecraft arrived in orbit around Mars in 1971 during a global dust-storm. The first objects to become visible as the dust began to settle, the tops of the Tharsis volcanoes, demonstrated that the altitude of these features greatly exceeded that of any mountain found on Earth, as astronomers expected.
Early observations and naming
Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons | Early observations and naming
Named after observations made by Mariner 9 Observations of the planet from Mariner 9 confirmed that Nix Olympica was a volcano. Ultimately, astronomers adopted the name "Olympus Mons" for the albedo feature known as Nix Olympica. Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context. Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
what is the location of mars in the solar system
user
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
assistant
is it known by any other names?
user
Yes, "Red Planet" in English
assistant
are there any volcanoes there?
user
Yes, Olympus Mons
assistant
who named it?
user
Observations of the planet from Mariner 9 confirmed that Nix Olympica was a volcano. Ultimately, astronomers adopted the name "Olympus Mons" for the albedo feature known as Nix Olympica.
Olympus Mons | Early observations and naming
The curvature of the planet and the volcano itself would obscure such a synoptic view. Similarly, an observer near the summit would be unaware of standing on a very high mountain, as the slope of the volcano would extend far beyond the horizon, a mere 3 kilometers away.
Olympus Mons | Description
Ascraeus Lacus had been named after Ascra, the rustic birthplace of Hesiod; in Greek, the word "ascraeus" is a poetic metonym for "rural." The volcano's name officially became Ascraeus Mons in 1973.
Ascraeus Mons | Name
Many of the flows have levees along their margins (pictured). The cooler, outer margins of the flow solidify, leaving a central trough of molten, flowing lava. Partially collapsed lava tubes are visible as chains of pit craters, and broad lava fans formed by lava emerging from intact, subsurface tubes are also common. In places along the volcano's base, solidified lava flows can be seen spilling out into the surrounding plains, forming broad aprons, and burying the basal escarpment. Crater counts from high-resolution images taken by the Mars Express orbiter in 2004 indicate that lava flows on the northwestern flank of Olympus Mons range in age from 115 million years old (Mya) to only 2 Mya.
Olympus Mons | Geology
The summit of the mountain has six nested calderas (collapsed craters) forming an irregular depression × across and up to deep. The volcano's outer edge consists of an escarpment, or cliff, up to tall (although obscured by lava flows in places), a feature unique among the shield volcanoes of Mars, which may have been created by enormous flank landslides. Olympus Mons covers an area of about , which is approximately the size of Italy or the Philippines, and it is supported by a thick lithosphere. The extraordinary size of Olympus Mons is likely because Mars lacks mobile tectonic plates. Unlike on Earth, the crust of Mars remains fixed over a stationary hotspot, and a volcano can continue to discharge lava until it reaches an enormous height.
Olympus Mons | Description
Olympus Mons is the result of many thousands of highly fluid, basaltic lava flows that poured from volcanic vents over a long period of time (the Hawaiian Islands exemplify similar shield volcanoes on a smaller scale – see Mauna Kea). Like the basalt volcanoes on Earth, Martian basaltic volcanoes are capable of erupting enormous quantities of ash. Due to the reduced gravity of Mars compared to Earth, there are lesser buoyant forces on the magma rising out of the crust. In addition, the magma chambers are thought to be much larger and deeper than the ones found on Earth. The flanks of Olympus Mons are made up of innumerable lava flows and channels.
Olympus Mons | Geology
The volcano's location corresponds to the classical albedo feature Ascraeus Lacus. Ascraeus Mons was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971. The volcano was originally called North Spot because it was the northernmost of only four spots visible on the surface due to a global dust storm that was then enshrouding the planet. As the dust cleared, the spots were revealed to be extremely tall volcanoes whose summits had projected above the dust-laden, lower atmosphere.
Ascraeus Mons | Discovery
As a shield volcano, Olympus Mons resembles the shape of the large volcanoes making up the Hawaiian Islands. The edifice is about wide. Because the mountain is so large, with complex structure at its edges, allocating a height to it is difficult. Olympus Mons stands above the Mars global datum, and its local relief, from the foot of the cliffs which form its northwest margin to its peak, is over (a little over twice the height of Mauna Kea as measured from its base on the ocean floor). The total elevation change from the plains of Amazonis Planitia, over to the northwest, to the summit approaches .
Olympus Mons | Description
Some scientists believe that glaciers may have existed on many of the volcanoes in Tharsis including Olympus Mons, Ascraeus Mons, and Pavonis Mons. Ceraunius Tholus may have even had its glaciers melt to form some temporary lakes in the past. The smoothness and flatness of the Ceraunius Tholus caldera floor suggests that in the past meltwater accumulated in a caldera lake.
Ceraunius Tholus | Glaciers
It had been known to astronomers since the late 19th century as the albedo feature Nix Olympica (Latin for "Olympic Snow"). Its mountainous nature was suspected well before space probes confirmed its identity as a mountain. The volcano is located in Mars' western hemisphere at approximately , just off the northwestern edge of the Tharsis bulge. The western portion of the volcano lies in the Amazonis quadrangle (MC-8) and the central and eastern portions in the adjoining Tharsis quadrangle (MC-9). Two impact craters on Olympus Mons have been assigned provisional names by the International Astronomical Union. They are the -diameter Karzok crater () and the -diameter Pangboche crater ().
Olympus Mons | Introduction
Crater size-frequency distributions on the caldera floors indicate the calderas range in age from 350 Mya to about 150 Mya. All probably formed within 100 million years of each other. Olympus Mons is asymmetrical structurally as well as topographically. The longer, more shallow northwestern flank displays extensional features, such as large slumps and normal faults. In contrast, the volcano's steeper southeastern side has features indicating compression, including step-like terraces in the volcano's mid-flank region (interpreted as thrust faults) and a number of wrinkle ridges located at the basal escarpment. Why opposite sides of the mountain should show different styles of deformation may lie in how large shield volcanoes grow laterally and in how variations within the volcanic substrate have affected the mountain's final shape.
Olympus Mons | Geology
Geologic evidence indicates that significant volcanic activity ended much earlier at Alba Mons than at Olympus Mons and the Tharsis Montes volcanoes. Volcanic deposits from Alba Mons range in age from Hesperian to early Amazonian (approximately 3.6 to 3.2 billion years old).
Alba Mons | Introduction
Olympus Mons (; Latin for Mount Olympus) is a very large shield volcano on the planet Mars. The volcano has a height of over 21 km (13.6 mi or 72,000 ft) as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Olympus Mons is about two and a half times Mount Everest's height above sea level. It is one of the largest volcanoes, the tallest planetary mountain, and the second tallest mountain currently discovered in the Solar System, comparable to Rheasilvia on Vesta. It is often cited as the largest volcano in the Solar System. However, by some metrics, other volcanoes are considerably larger.
Olympus Mons | Introduction
Tharsis is a land of great volcanoes. Olympus Mons is the tallest known volcano. "Mons" is a term used for a large raised feature. "Tholus" is about the same, but smaller.
Uranius Tholus | Volcanoes
Alba Mons, northeast of Olympus Mons, has roughly 19 times the surface area, but is only about one third the height. Pele, the largest known volcano on Io, is also much larger, at roughly 4 times the surface area, but is considerably flatter. Additionally, Tharsis Rise, a large volcanic structure on Mars of which Olympus Mons is a part, has been interpreted as an enormous spreading volcano. If this is confirmed, Tharsis would be by far the largest volcano in the Solar System. Olympus Mons is the youngest of the large volcanoes on Mars, having formed during Mars's Hesperian Period.
Olympus Mons | Introduction
Olympus Mons and a few other volcanoes in the Tharsis region stand high enough to reach above the frequent Martian dust-storms recorded by telescopic observers as early as the 19th century. The astronomer Patrick Moore pointed out that Schiaparelli (1835–1910) "had found that his "Nodus Gordis" and "Olympic Snow" [Nix Olympica] were almost the only features to be seen" during dust storms, and "guessed correctly that they must be high". The Mariner 9 spacecraft arrived in orbit around Mars in 1971 during a global dust-storm. The first objects to become visible as the dust began to settle, the tops of the Tharsis volcanoes, demonstrated that the altitude of these features greatly exceeded that of any mountain found on Earth, as astronomers expected.
Olympus Mons | Early observations and naming
The volcano was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1972 and was initially known as the Alba volcanic feature or the Arcadia Ring (in reference to the partial ring of fractures around the volcano). The IAU named the volcano Alba Patera in 1973. The volcano is often simply called Alba when the context is understood.
Alba Mons | Name origin
The shield volcano Olympus Mons ("Mount Olympus") is an extinct volcano in the vast upland region Tharsis, which contains several other large volcanoes. Olympus Mons is roughly three times the height of Mount Everest, which in comparison stands at just over . It is either the tallest or second-tallest mountain in the Solar System, depending on how it is measured, with various sources giving figures ranging from about high.
Mars | Volcanoes
Olympus Mons is partially surrounded by a region of distinctive grooved or corrugated terrain known as the Olympus Mons aureole. The aureole consists of several large lobes. Northwest of the volcano, the aureole extends a distance of up to and is known as Lycus Sulci (). East of Olympus Mons, the aureole is partially covered by lava flows, but where it is exposed it goes by different names (Gigas Sulci, for example). The origin of the aureole remains debated, but it was likely formed by huge landslides or gravity-driven thrust sheets that sloughed off the edges of the Olympus Mons shield.
Olympus Mons | Regional setting and surrounding features
Some scientists see evidence that glaciers exist on many of the volcanoes in Tharsis, including Olympus Mons, Ascraeus Mons, and Pavonis Mons. Ceraunius Tholus may have even had its glaciers melt to form some temporary lakes in the past.
Tharsis quadrangle | Glaciers
Lycus Sulci (24.6° N, 219° E) is the name applied to the northwestern portion of a larger terrain feature that partially encircles Olympus Mons and extends up to 750 km from the giant shield volcano’s base. This feature, called the Olympus Mons aureole, consists of several large lobes and has a distinctive corrugated or grooved surface texture. East of Olympus Mons, the aureole is partially covered by lava flows, but where it is exposed it goes by different names (Gigas Sulci, for example). The origin of the aureole remains debated, but it was likely formed by huge landslides or gravity-driven thrust sheets that sloughed off the edges of the Olympus Mons shield.
Diacria quadrangle | Lycus Sulci (Olympus Mons Aureole)
However, the largest volcano on the planet, Olympus Mons, is thought to have formed when the plates were not moving. Olympus Mons may have formed just after the plate motion stopped. The mare-like plains on Mars are roughly 3 to 3.5 billion years old. The giant shield volcanoes are younger, formed between 1 and 2 billion years ago. Olympus Mons may be "as young as 200 million years." Norman H. Sleep, professor of geophysics at Stanford University, described how the three volcanoes that form a line along the Tharsis Ridge may be extinct island arc volcanoes like the Japanese Island chain.
Volcanism on Mars | Tectonic boundaries
At various locations around the volcano, immense lava flows can be seen extending into the adjacent plains, burying the escarpment. In medium resolution images (100 m/pixel), the surface of the volcano has a fine radial texture due to the innumerable flows and leveed lava channels that line its flanks.
Volcanism on Mars | Olympus Mons
These ages are very recent in geological terms, suggesting that the mountain may still be volcanically active, though in a very quiescent and episodic fashion. The caldera complex at the peak of the volcano is made of at least six overlapping calderas and caldera segments (pictured). Calderas are formed by roof collapse following depletion and withdrawal of the subsurface magma chamber after an eruption. Each caldera thus represents a separate pulse of volcanic activity on the mountain. The largest and oldest caldera segment appears to have formed as a single, large lava lake. Using geometric relationships of caldera dimensions from laboratory models, scientists have estimated that the magma chamber associated with the largest caldera on Olympus Mons lies at a depth of about below the caldera floor.
Olympus Mons | Geology
Fissures, or flank vents, at the southwestern and northeastern edges of the volcano are the sources of the lava aprons that spread out across the surrounding plains. The fissures seem to have formed by the merger of numerous, narrow rille-like depressions. In places, the depressions form sinuous channels with islands and other features suggestive of erosion by a fluid. Whether the channels were formed predominately by water or lava is still a topic of debate, though extensive study of analogous environments (e.g. Hawaii, the Moon, elsewhere on Mars) and morphologic features by multiple researchers has led to the conclusion that a volcanic origin is most probable.
Ascraeus Mons | Geology
Ascraeus Mons was built by many thousands of fluid basaltic lava flows. Except for its great size, it resembles terrestrial shield volcanoes like those that form the Hawaiian Islands. The flanks of Ascraeus Mons are covered with narrow, lobate lava flows and lava channels. Many of the lava flows have levees along their margins. Levees are parallel ridges formed at the edges of lava flows. The cooler, outer margins of the flow solidify, leaving a central trough of molten, flowing lava. Partially collapsed lava tubes are visible as chains of pit craters. By examining the morphologies of lava flow structures on Ascraeus Mons, geologists are able to calculate the rheological properties of the lava and estimate the rate at which it poured out during eruption (effusion rate).
Ascraeus Mons | Geology
Tharsis is a land of great volcanoes. Olympus Mons is the tallest known volcano in the Solar System; it is 100 times larger than any volcano on Earth. Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons are at least 200 miles across and are over six miles above the plateau that they sit on—and, the plateau is three to four miles above the zero altitude of Mars. Pavonis Mons, the middle in a line of three volcanoes, sits at just about dead center on the equator. Mons is a term used for a large raised feature. Tholus is about the same, but smaller.
Tharsis quadrangle | Volcanoes
This range is named after Haemus Mons, an old Thracian name of the Balkan mountains. It appeared on the map of Moon due to Johannes Hevelius. But he assigned this name (in the form "Mons Æmus") to another feature – remains of the rim of crater Alexander, located on the other side of Mare Serenitatis. Later the name moved to the subject of this article. The same name, but with reversed order of words – "Haemus Montes" – belongs to one of mountain systems on Io.
Montes Haemus | Introduction
The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1991. Anseris Mons is not a volcano. Geologically, the massif is thought to be the eroded remnant of an ancient crustal block uplifted from depths of several kilometers in the formation of the Hellas impact basin during the period of heavy bombardment. Anseris Mons is the type area for a large set of rugged mountain blocks (>25 km across) that occur in a relatively continuous band 200 to 500 km wide around the western, northeastern, eastern, and southeastern rim of the Hellas basin. Many of the blocks, particularly along the western rim, are concentric with the basin and bounded by faults.
Anseris Mons | Introduction
The southern half of the Alba Mons volcano is built over the northern extension of this ridge.
Ceraunius Fossae | Location and size
Olympus Mons is the youngest and tallest large volcano on Mars. It is located 1200 km northwest of the Tharsis Montes, just off the western edge of the Tharsis bulge. Its summit is 21 km above datum (Mars "sea" level) and has a central caldera complex consisting of six nested calderas that together form a depression 72 x 91 km wide and 3.2 km deep. As a shield volcano, it has an extremely low profile with shallow slopes averaging between 4–5 degrees. The volcano was built up by many thousands of individual flows of highly fluid lava. An irregular escarpment, in places up to 8 km tall, lies at the base of the volcano, forming a kind of pedestal on which the volcano sits.
Volcanism on Mars | Olympus Mons
I speculate that the mountains might be a chain of volcanoes that oozed up along cracks in the crust after the impact."
Doom Mons | Characteristics and height
Tharsis contains a group of large volcanoes. Olympus Mons is the tallest.
Tharsis quadrangle | Introduction
Yes, this was copied and pasted verbatim from that listing. All other references to it online have done the same. When actually looking in google maps to the coordinates of the supposed volcano, no volcano is seen. Just trees. My hypothesis is that this volcano is a Phantom settlement, added via the Smithsonian to trap people who copied from their site without checking sources.
Mount Pendan | Introduction
But in 2007, these names were tied to the craters themselves, and the corresponding volcanic mountains obtained names with the terms "Mons" or "Tholus". An example of such mountains is Alba Mons, which obtained its name 34 years after its crater Alba Patera. The geological term "highland patera" (a kind of low Martian volcanoes with radially channeled flanks), unlike the nomenclatural term "patera", refers to the whole volcano.
Patera (planetary nomenclature) | Peculiarities of usage of the term
Arsia Mons is the southernmost of three volcanoes (collectively known as Tharsis Montes) on the Tharsis bulge near the equator of the planet Mars. To its north is Pavonis Mons, and north of that is Ascraeus Mons. The tallest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons, is to its northwest. Its name comes from a corresponding albedo feature on a map by Giovanni Schiaparelli, which he named in turn after the legendary Roman forest of Arsia Silva.
Arsia Mons | Introduction
Olympus Mons is located between the northwestern edge of the Tharsis region and the eastern edge of Amazonis Planitia. It stands about from the other three large Martian shield volcanoes, collectively called the Tharsis Montes (Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Ascraeus Mons). The Tharsis Montes are slightly smaller than Olympus Mons. A wide, annular depression or moat about deep surrounds the base of Olympus Mons and is thought to be due to the volcano's immense weight pressing down on the Martian crust. The depth of this depression is greater on the northwest side of the mountain than on the southeast side.
Olympus Mons | Regional setting and surrounding features
It is one of the oldest volcanoes on Mars. As a consequence of its old age, Tyrrhenus Mons has many radiating gullies on its slope. When it was formed, magma may have gone through frozen ground and then erupted as easily eroded ash, instead of lava flows.
Tyrrhenus Mons | Introduction
The three Tharsis Montes, together with some smaller volcanoes to the north, form a rather straight line. It has been proposed that these are the result of plate tectonics, which on Earth makes chains of "hot spot" volcanoes.
Arsia Mons | Possible plate tectonics
A subsequent search puts forward that it may have been two different volcanoes that were some distance away from each other.
John of Ephesus | Witness to the Beginning of the 6th Century Miniature Ice Age
These are listed in the table below. The craters are at the tops of two lunar domes, which are most likely volcanoes and were not formed by impacts.
Mons Esam | Introduction
The bulk of the volcano's surface consists of lava flows of the early Amazonian age. The northern flanks of the volcano are highly faulted with grabens and normal faults concentric to the volcano's summit caldera. To its lower east flank, there is a chain of elliptical, or oval-shaped, pits, lined up down the center of a shallow trough. These features were formed by faulting and associated collapse; the scarp on each side of the trough is a fault line.
Pavonis Mons | Geology
Hephaestus was associated by Greek colonists in southern Italy with the volcano gods Adranus (of Mount Etna) and Vulcanus of the Lipari islands. The first-century sage Apollonius of Tyana is said to have observed, "there are many other mountains all over the earth that are on fire, and yet we should never be done with it if we assigned to them giants and gods like Hephaestus".
Hephaestus | Volcano god
The ridges are interpreted to be lava flows, although the flow margins are now degraded and difficult to delineate. Broad lava flows with flat-topped ridges are characteristic features of lava flood provinces on Earth (e.g., Columbia River basalt) that were formed at high eruption rates. Thus, the earliest phase of volcanic activity at Alba Mons probably involved massive effusive eruptions of low viscosity lavas that formed the volcano's broad, flat apron. Lava flows of the apron unit straddle the early Hesperian-late Hesperian boundary, having erupted approximately 3700 to 3500 million years ago.
Alba Mons | Geologic history
Theia Mons is a large shield volcano on Venus. Its name is derived from the titan of Greek mythology. LOCATION: Beta Regio ELEVATION: about 6000 m TYPE: shield volcano STAGE: extinct VOLCANIC FEATURES: caldera
Theia Mons | Introduction
It was named in 1973 after a mountain spring near Rome in Italy.
Apollinaris Mons | Introduction
The specific epithet for the species is composed of the Latin words for mountain"(mons)" and fire"(igifer)", which together mean volcano, in reference to the place where the first specimen in Bolivia was photographed, Refugio Los Volcanes in Santa Cruz.
Bothrops monsignifer | Taxonomy
Being a shield volcano, Olympus Mons has a very gently sloping profile. The average slope on the volcano's flanks is only 5°. Slopes are steepest near the middle part of the flanks and grow shallower toward the base, giving the flanks a concave upward profile. The shape of Olympus Mons is distinctly asymmetrical—its flanks are shallower and extend farther from the summit in the northwestern direction than they do to the southeast. The volcano's shape and profile have been likened to a "circus tent" held up by a single pole that is shifted off center. Due to the size and shallow slopes of Olympus Mons, an observer standing on the Martian surface would be unable to view the entire profile of the volcano, even from a great distance.
Olympus Mons | Description
The volcanoes Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons are believed to have once had glaciers on them. Glaciers may still exist under a thin layer of rocks. The ice can be a source of water for the possible future colonization of the planet. One of the most prominent features of this quadrangle is a large intersecting set of canyons called Noctis Labyrinthus. Other interesting features are lava channels, Dark slope streaks, pit crater chains, and large troughs (called fossae). Research published in the journal Icarus has found pits in Zumba Crater are caused by hot ejecta falling on ground containing ice.
Phoenicis Lacus quadrangle | Introduction
Prometheus consists of a -wide volcanic pit named Prometheus Patera and a -long compound lava flow, all surrounded by reddish sulfur and circular, bright sulfur dioxide volcanic plume deposits. The volcano was first observed in images acquired by the "Voyager 1" spacecraft in March 1979. Later that year, the International Astronomical Union named this feature after a Greek fire god, Prometheus. Prometheus is the site of a volcanic eruption that has been ongoing since at least the "Voyager 1" encounter in 1979. Between the Voyager encounters and the first observations by "Galileo", a flow field was emplaced. Later "Galileo" observations of this flow field revealed numerous small breakouts, particularly on the western end of the flow field.
Prometheus (volcano) | Description
The presence of the lava aprons causes some disagreement in the actual dimensions of the volcano. If the aprons are included as part of the edifice then Ascraeus Mons has dimensions closer to 375 × 870 km.
Ascraeus Mons | General description
The Tharsis Montes () are three large shield volcanoes in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. From north to south, the volcanoes are Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons. Mons (plural "montes") is the Latin word for mountain; it is a descriptor term used in astrogeology for mountainous features in the Solar System. The three Tharsis Montes volcanoes are enormous by terrestrial standards, ranging in diameter from (Pavonis Mons) to (Arsia Mons). Ascraeus Mons is the tallest with a summit elevation of over , or base-to-peak. For comparison, the largest volcano on Earth, Mauna Kea in Hawaii, is about across and stands above the ocean floor.
Tharsis Montes | Introduction
It was named after Soviet geochemist Aleksandr P. Vinogradov. This mountain was formerly named Euler Beta (β), or Mons Euler. In the rugged ground just to the southeast of this mountain is a set of craters that have been assigned names by the IAU. These are listed in the table below.
Mons Vinogradov | Introduction
Ionian montes (mountains and volcanos, sg. "mons" ) are named after people and places associated with the nymph Io, and sun and fire gods in various other mythologies.
List of geological features on Io | Montes
The caldera of Arsia Mons was formed when the mountain collapsed in on itself after its reservoir of magma was exhausted. There are many other geologic collapse features on the mountain's flanks. The caldera floor formed around 150 Mya ago.
Arsia Mons | Structure
Pavonis Mons is the middle of three volcanos (collectively known as Tharsis Montes) on the Tharsis bulge near the equator of the planet Mars. The other Tharsis volcanoes are Ascraeus Mons and Arsia Mons. The three Tharsis Montes, together with some smaller volcanoes to the north, form a fairly straight line. It has been proposed that this straight line of volcanoes is the result of the sort of plate motion which on Earth makes chains of "hot spot" volcanoes.
Pavonis Mons | Possible evidence of plate tectonics
The terraces are spaced 30 to 50 km apart, have lengths up to 100 km, radial widths of 30 km, and heights of about 3 km. Individual terraces are not continuous around the volcano, but instead consist of arcuate segments that overlap with each other, forming an imbricate pattern. They are interpreted to be the surface expression of thrust faults that formed due to compression along the volcano's flanks. Flank terraces are also common on Olympus Mons and the other Tharsis shield volcanoes. The source of the compressive stresses is still debated. The flank terraces may be due to compressional failure of the volcano, flexing of the underlying lithosphere due to the volcano's massive weight, cycles of magma chamber inflation and deflation, or shallow gravitational slumping.
Ascraeus Mons | Geology
Ceraunius Tholus is on the Tharsis rise, also called the Tharsis bulge. Tharsis is a land of great volcanoes. Olympus Mons is the tallest known volcano. Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons are at least 320 km across and are over 10 km above the plateau that they sit on. The plateau is five to four seven kilometers above the zero altitude of Mars.
Ceraunius Tholus | Environment around Ceraunius Tholus
Ulysses Tholus is a Martian volcano. It is located in the Tharsis quadrangle at 2.89° north latitude and 121.55° west longitude. It is 58 km across and is named after a classical albedo feature. Ulysses Tholus is immediately east and slightly north of another volcano, Biblis Tholus. The name of the mountain itself was changed on September 19, 2007. The former terminology, Ulysses Patera, now applies only (and more accurately) to the central caldera, whereas formerly it had applied to the whole edifice. "Tholus" describes a volcanic edifice somewhat smaller than would be implied by "mons".
Ulysses Tholus | Introduction
The form and layout of the rocks favor the emergence of numerous springs, mainly lower than 2,000 m, of small seasonal lakes and streams and of a small river, Enipeas, with its springs in the site Prionia and its estuary in the Aegean Sea.
Mount Olympus | Morphology
For years the volcano's formal name was Alba Patera. "Patera" (pl. "paterae") is Latin for a shallow drinking bowl or saucer. The term was applied to certain ill-defined, scalloped-edged craters that appeared in early spacecraft images to be volcanic (or non-impact) in origin. In September 2007, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) renamed the volcano Alba Mons (Alba Mountain), reserving the term Alba Patera for the volcano's two central depressions (calderas). Nevertheless, the entire volcano is still commonly called Alba Patera in the planetary science literature. The term Alba is from the Latin word for white and refers to the clouds frequently seen over the region from Earth-based telescopes.
Alba Mons | Name origin
This is a list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes located beyond planet Earth. They may be designated mons (mountain), patera (an irregular crater) or tholus (small mountain or hill) in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's rules for planetary nomenclature. Many of them are nameless.
List of extraterrestrial volcanoes | Introduction
The term "mons" was firstly used for extraterrestrial mountains by Michael van Langren in 1645. He assigned names to some mountains on the Moon, but none of these names remain in use. Two years later Johannes Hevelius proposed the first names of extraterrestrial mountains still used. The lunar Alps and Apennines still bear names given by Hevelius, and five of his other mountain names nowadays refer to other features (in some cases his "mountains" later turned out to be bright rays from craters). The International Astronomical Union approved the first names of extraterrestrial mountains (together with many other traditional lunar names) in 1935, although without a generic Latin term, which was restored in 1961.
Mons (planetary nomenclature) | Names of montes
The lava dome has columnar jointing, which formed during cooling of the lava. The volcanic cone containing the lava dome was later eroded away, exposing the lava dome.
Mont Gerbier de Jonc | Introduction
NIMS found high eruption temperatures at Thor suggesting exposed, silicate lava and a high power output indicating a high flow rate for the lava at Thor. Prior to its official naming by the IAU, NIMS scientists designated the eruption I31A, as the first new eruption detected during "Galileo" orbit I31. Another imaging observation taken on August 8 showed the effects of this eruption on the surface of Io, as a new dark spot was observed surrounding the Thor volcano and a bright ring composed of fresh, fine-grained sulfur dioxide frost deposited by the plume. In some areas of the white plume deposit, the areal coverage of frost had increased from 60-70% to 100% as a result of this eruption.
Thor (volcano) | August 2001
The volcano also has very long, well preserved lava flows that form a radiating pattern from the volcano's central region. The enormous lengths of some individual flows (>) implies that the lavas were very fluid (low viscosity) and of high volume. Many of the flows have distinctive morphologies, consisting of long, sinuous ridges with discontinuous central lava channels. The low areas between the ridges (particularly along the volcano's northern flank) show a branching pattern of shallow gullies and channels (valley networks) that likely formed by water runoff. Alba Mons has some of the oldest extensively exposed volcanic deposits in the Tharsis region.
Alba Mons | Introduction
The volcano was discovered by the Discovery Expedition in 1901-1904 and named after a relief ship that took part in the expedition.
Mount Morning | History and name
Tyrrhenus Mons, formerly Tyrrhena Mons or Tyrrhena Patera, is a large volcano in the Mare Tyrrhenum quadrangle of Mars, located at 21.36° south latitude and 253.47° west longitude. The name "Tyrrhena Patera" now refers only to the central depression, a volcanic crater or caldera. It was named after a classical albedo feature name. Pit chains are found at the summit of Tyrrhenus Mons. They are formed by collapse of material into underground voids. Since they form chains and concentric fractures that are aligned, they are probably caused by extension of the surface. Volcanic processes made the crust pull apart. Voids were formed, then material fell into them, leaving holes.
Tyrrhenus Mons | Introduction
It was discovered only when stereoscopic radar data allowed construction of an elevation map. It was imaged by Cassini radar 22 February and 10 April 2007. Erebor Mons is named after Erebor, the "Lonely Mountain" that appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, most prominently in "The Hobbit". The name follows a convention that Titanean mountains are named after mountains in Tolkien's work. The name was formally announced on November 13, 2012.
Erebor Mons | Introduction
Slopes are steepest in the middle portion of the flanks, flattening out toward the base and near the top where a broad summit plateau and caldera (collapse crater) complex are located. Volcanic vents, located on the northeastern and southwestern edges of the volcano, are sources for broad lava aprons, or fans, that bury nearby portions of the volcano and extend over 100 km out into the surrounding plains. The southwest-northeast orientation of the aprons matches the orientation of the Tharsis Montes, suggesting that a major fissure or rift in the Martian crust is responsible for the orientation of both the aprons and the Tharsis Montes chain.
Ascraeus Mons | General description
Ceraunius appears small compared to other larger volcanoes, but it is almost as tall as Earth's Mount Everest.
Ceraunius Tholus | Introduction
Sapas is named after the Canaanite sun goddess. It measures about across and high. Its flanks show numerous overlapping lava flows. The dark flows on the lower right of the radar image are thought to be smoother than the brighter ones near the central part of the volcano. Many of the flows appear to have been erupted along the flanks of the volcano rather than from the double summit. This type of flank eruption is common on large volcanoes on Earth, such as the Hawaiian volcanoes. The summit area has two flat-topped mesas, whose smooth tops give a relatively dark appearance in the radar image.
Sapas Mons | Description
The volcano's relatively steep slopes and dome-like shape led some early researchers to conclude that the volcano is built from viscous, silicic lavas or pyroclastics, rather than fluid basalts. However, more recent studies based on data from the Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft indicate that Tharsis Tholus is probably a basaltic shield or a shield with a stratocone component. CRISM data from MRO show that lava exposed on the caldera scarp is composed of high- and low-calcium pyroxenes. Olivine is present in abundance on the west flank of the volcano, but it appears to be present only in the dust that mantles the volcano.
Tharsis Tholus | Geology
Mount Olympus is formed of sedimentary rock laid down 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. Various geological events that followed caused the emergence of the whole region and the sea. Around one million years ago glaciers covered Olympus and created its plateaus and depressions. With the temperature rise that followed, the ice melted and the streams that were created swept away large quantities of crushed rock in the lowest places, forming the alluvial fans, that spread out all over the region from the foothills of the mountain to the sea. The Geological Museum of Mount Olympus, located in Leptokarya, provides detailed information about the geological structure of the mountain.
Mount Olympus | Geology
Slightly younger basanite and phonotephrite lavas crop out on Fang Ridge—an eroded remnant of an early Erebus volcano—and at other isolated locations on the flanks of Erebus. Erebus is the world's only presently erupting phonolite volcano. Lava flows of more viscous phonotephrite and trachyte erupted after the basanite. The upper slopes of Mount Erebus are dominated by steeply dipping (about 30°) tephritic phonolite lava flows with large-scale flow levees. A conspicuous break in slope around 3,200 m ASL calls attention to a summit plateau representing a caldera. The summit caldera was created by an explosive VEI-6 eruption that occurred 18,000 ± 7,000 years ago.
Mount Erebus | Geology and volcanology
Silpium Mons is a mountain on Jupiter's moon Io. It is 5.6 kilometers in height, 113 kilometers in length, and 79.7 kilometers in width. It covers an area of 7073 km. It is a striated ridge, meaning it is an elevated structure dominated by one or more prominent linear or arcuate rises. It is named after a location in Greece where the mythological Io died of grief. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1979. It is located at , south of Svarog Patera, north of Mithra Patera, and northeast of Viracocha Patera. Its proximity to Svarog and Viracocha Paterae has been suggested to be evidence for a structural relationship between mountains and calderas on Io.
Silpium Mons | Introduction
Submarine eruptions reported in 1773, 1850, and 1854 are likely to have originated from this volcano. There have been no further reports since 1854.
Unnamed volcano (Ibugos) | Eruptions
Apollinaris Mons is an ancient shield volcano in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It is situated near the equator, south of Elysium Planitia and north of the impact crater Gusev (the landing site of the Mars rover "Spirit"). Elysium Planitia separates it from the volcanic province of Elysium to its northwest. The volcano's caldera is named Apollinaris Patera; this name formerly applied to the whole edifice. Apollinaris Mons is about 5 kilometres high with a base about 296 kilometres in diameter. On the top of this volcano is a caldera about 80 km (50 miles) in diameter. The volcano is approximately 3 billion to 3.5 billion years old.
Apollinaris Mons | Introduction
Olympus Rupes is a group of cliffs along the northern face of Olympus Mons, the largest mountain on Mars and the largest volcano in the Solar System. It also forms the northern border of the mountain.
Olympus Rupes | Introduction
A patera is flatter and like a volcano with a super large opening. Actually, a patera is formed when the top of a volcano collapses because its magma chamber is empty. Crater Lake Oregon was formed that way. Several volcanoes form a straight line in the Tharsis Uplift. Two major ones are in the Tharsus quadrangle: Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons. It has been proposed that these are the result of plate motion which on Earth makes volcanic arc islands. Although Mars displays many volcanoes here and other places, there has been no evidence of recent volcanic activity, even at a very low level.
Tharsis quadrangle | Volcanoes
Mons (plural: montes , from the Latin word for "mountain") is a mountain on a celestial body. The term is used in planetary nomenclature: it is a part of the international names of such features. It is capitalized and usually stands after the proper given name, but stands before it in the case of lunar mountains (for example, there is a Martian mountain Arsia Mons and a lunar mountain Mons Argaeus). The term "tholus" ("dome") is used for names of smaller (especially domical) uplands, and the term "colles" ("hills") in names of groups of still smaller knobs. Peculiar round mountains found on Venus get names with the term "farrum".
Mons (planetary nomenclature) | Introduction
The mountain was discovered on images taken by the "Dawn" spacecraft in orbit around Ceres in 2015. It is estimated to have an average height of about and a maximum height of about on its steepest side; it is about wide at the base.
Ahuna Mons | Discovery
Two late stages of graben formation occurred after volcanic activity had largely ended. Based on Viking Orbiter images, the volcanic materials related to the formation and evolution of the volcano have been grouped into the Alba Patera Formation, which consists of lower, middle, and upper members. Members low in the stratigraphic sequence are older than those lying above, in accordance with Steno's law of superposition. The oldest unit (lower member) corresponds to the broad lava apron surrounding the Alba Mons edifice. This unit is characterized by sets of low, flat-topped ridges that form a radial pattern extending for hundreds of kilometers to the west, north, and northeast of the main edifice.
Alba Mons | Geologic history
The classical world of Greece and the early Roman Empire explained volcanoes as sites of various gods. Greeks considered that Hephaestus, the god of fire, sat below the volcano Etna, forging the weapons of Zeus. The Greek word used to describe volcanoes was "etna", or "hiera", after Heracles, the son of Zeus. The Roman poet Virgil, in interpreting the Greek mythos, held that the giant Enceladus was buried beneath Etna by the goddess Athena as punishment for rebellion against the gods; the mountain's rumblings were his tormented cries, the flames his breath and the tremors his railing against the bars of his prison.
Volcanology | Greco-Roman philosophy
It is due to the great microclimate variety, caused by the region's landscape.
Mount Olympus | Flora
Ascraeus Mons is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the northernmost and tallest of three shield volcanoes collectively known as the Tharsis Montes.
Ascraeus Mons | Introduction
It has been proposed that Ahuna Mons formed as a cryovolcanic dome. It is the closest cryovolcano to the Sun yet discovered. It is roughly antipodal to the largest impact basin on Ceres, diameter Kerwan. Seismic energy from the Kerwan-forming impact may have been focused on the opposite side of Ceres, fracturing the outer layers of the area and facilitating the movement of high viscosity cryovolcanic magma (consisting of muddy water ice softened by its content of salts) that was then extruded onto the surface. Crater counts suggest that formation of the mountain continued into the last several hundred million years, making this a relatively young geological feature.
Ahuna Mons | Origin
Alba's size and low profile makes it a difficult structure to study visually, as much of the volcano's relief is indiscernible in orbital photographs. However, between 1997 and 2001, the Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft took over 670 million precise elevation measurements across the planet. Using MOLA data, planetary scientists are able to study subtle details of the volcano's shape and topography that were invisible in images from earlier spacecraft such as Viking. The volcano consists of two, roughly concentric components: 1) an oval-shaped central body with approximate dimensions of by across surrounded by 2) a vast, nearly level apron of lava flows that extends an additional or so outward.
Alba Mons | Physical description
During impact events, mountains can appear not only on the border of the resulting crater, but also in its center. Classical central peaks generally are not named, although some peaks within craters are named: for example, Aeolis Mons within Gale crater on Mars or the Scheria Montes within Odysseus crater on Tethys.
Mons (planetary nomenclature) | Nature of montes
The ancients knew the mountain as "Strobilus", Latin for "pine cone", a direct loan from the ancient Greek "strobilos", ('a twisted object') a long-established botanical term that describes the shape of the volcano's summit. In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus was chained to the mountain by Zeus as a punishment for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind. The lower of the two summits was first ascended on by Khillar Khachirov, a guide for an Imperial Russian army scientific expedition led by General Georgi Emmanuel, and the higher (by about ) in 1874 by an English expedition led by F.
Mount Elbrus | History
A further sampling cruise by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recovered pillow lava and hyaloclastite from 4 of the 8 volcanoes. The samples seemed to be of more primitive origin then those erupted elsewhere on the ridge. In 1998, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted two dives on a cone cluster located southeast of the main structure. The chain consists of eight volcanoes. Of these, four are self-dependent, whereas the other four form twin fused, morphalogically complex, flat-topped structures. The volcanoes form a linear chain, and are relatively small, measuring less than in diameter, and are nearly circular in shape.
President Jackson Seamounts | Introduction
The presence of corona-like features suggest two possible theories for interpretation of how Irnini Mons developed. One hypothesis is a transition from a primarily shield volcano structure to a primarily corona structure due to continued lithosphere thinning and lack of resurfacing flows. Another hypothesis is Irnini Mons was originally a corona which was uplifted due to compressive forces.
Irnini Mons | Volcanic-Tectonic Structures
Later glaciations have formed moraines on the volcano.
Ollagüe | Introduction
Ice cores taken at Taylor Dome in Antarctica display a spike in about 16,000 years ago, which may have originated at Reclus.
Reclus (volcano) | R1 eruption
There are also several shield volcano formations, each with a diameter of less than 10 km. The geological formations and the lack of collapse depressions suggest that the mare was formed by thin lava flow through tubes, rather than through basalt flooding by fissure eruptions.
Lacus Veris | Introduction
The Kunstmann edifice probably counts as a separate volcano as well.
Falso Azufre | Introduction
Changes in the planet's atmosphere and observations of lightning have been attributed to ongoing volcanic eruptions, although there is no confirmation of whether or not Venus is still volcanically active. However, radar sounding by the Magellan probe revealed evidence for comparatively recent volcanic activity at Venus's highest volcano Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows near the summit and on the northern flank. There are several extinct volcanoes on Mars, four of which are vast shield volcanoes far bigger than any on Earth. They include Arsia Mons, Ascraeus Mons, Hecates Tholus, Olympus Mons, and Pavonis Mons. These volcanoes have been extinct for many millions of years, but the European "Mars Express" spacecraft has found evidence that volcanic activity may have occurred on Mars in the recent past as well.
Volcano | Volcanoes on other celestial bodies
Information boards and models explain the origin and geological structure of the Olympus. Displayed are fossils, any type of stones occurring in the mountains and photographs of geologically significant objects. Special exhibits are fossils of marine animals that were found in the Olympus at an altitude of about 1000 meters.
Museums and exhibitions at Mount Olympus | <a href="Geological%20Museum%20of%20Mount%20Olympus">Geological Museum of Mount Olympus</a>
As of May 2015, 262 extraterrestrial mountains and mountain systems have official names: 117 on Venus, 50 on Mars, 48 on the Moon, 23 on Io, 13 on Titan, 9 on Iapetus, 1 on Mercury and 1 on Tethys. They are named differently on different celestial bodies:
Mons (planetary nomenclature) | Names of montes
"Galileo" flew by Io again on October 16, 2001, this time passing over the satellite's south polar region at an altitude of . As a result of the discovery of the Thor eruption during the previous flyby, the observation plan was adjusted so that the camera and near-infrared spectrometer could take high-resolution images and spectra of the new eruption site. The camera acquired a single, clear-filter frame over the volcano with a spatial resolution of per pixel. The image revealed several new dark, silicate lava flows, many surrounded by dark, pyroclastic flow deposits. The dark flows generally covered over the previously observed yellow flows, though by October 2001, some of those older flows remained visible.
Thor (volcano) | October 2001