Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons is Latin for Mount Olympus and it is the largest volcano out of all the planets in our solar system.
Description
Olympus Mons is a shield volcano similar to the Hawaiian island volcanoes.
It has a Diameter of 374 miles and a height of 16 miles. which is about the size of Arizona and could fit all of the Hawaiian islands inside of it.
Facts
The largest volcano on earth is Mauna Loa, Olympus Mons is about 100 times larger than Mauna Loa. The caldera at the top of Olympus Mons is 53 miles wide. One reason that Olympus Mons is so big is that Mars doesn’t have tectonic plate movement. Like the Islands of Hawaii, Olympus Mons sits on top of a “Hot Spot” where magma rises from the planets core and comes to the surface. Without Tectonic plates this Hot Spot does not move, which will give the Volcano magma and likely keep it active until the Hot Spot dries up. The last time that Olympus Mons erupted is thought to be about 2 to 45 million years ago, so it is unknown whether it is still active or if it has become dormant.
Citations
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/olympus-mons.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons
http://olympus-mons.tripod.com/id1.html
http://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&hl=en&as_q=Olympus+Mons&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&cr=&as
Olympus Mons is Latin for Mount Olympus and it is the largest volcano out of all the planets in our solar system.
Description
Olympus Mons is a shield volcano similar to the Hawaiian island volcanoes.
It has a Diameter of 374 miles and a height of 16 miles. which is about the size of Arizona and could fit all of the Hawaiian islands inside of it.
Facts
The largest volcano on earth is Mauna Loa, Olympus Mons is about 100 times larger than Mauna Loa. The caldera at the top of Olympus Mons is 53 miles wide. One reason that Olympus Mons is so big is that Mars doesn’t have tectonic plate movement. Like the Islands of Hawaii, Olympus Mons sits on top of a “Hot Spot” where magma rises from the planets core and comes to the surface. Without Tectonic plates this Hot Spot does not move, which will give the Volcano magma and likely keep it active until the Hot Spot dries up. The last time that Olympus Mons erupted is thought to be about 2 to 45 million years ago, so it is unknown whether it is still active or if it has become dormant.
Citations
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/olympus-mons.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons
http://olympus-mons.tripod.com/id1.html
http://www.google.com/search?as_st=y&tbm=isch&hl=en&as_q=Olympus+Mons&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&cr=&as