Mars
Olympus Mons |
Mars, the red planet, has the distinction
of having the largest volcano in the solar system. The Olympus Mons
shield towers 25 km over the martian landscape and reaches 600 km
in diameter. The caldera measures 65 km across. The volcano is over
three times as large as the Hawaiian Emperor Chain. Mars does not
show signs of tectonics like on Earth, and so the volcanoes were probably
caused by hot spots. Mars also has several smaller volcanos in addition
to vast lava flow plains and may be volcanic ash plains. |
| Image taken from http://mars.tracker.nasa.gov/ and http://www.solarviews.com/eng/marsvolc.htm |