KOMPAS.com – The largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons, which is known to be on the Planet Mars.
Olympus Mons is a shield volcano with a diameter of 624 km (roughly the size of the state of Arizona), a height of 25 km, and is bordered by sheer cliffs up to 6 km high. At the top of Olympus Mons there is a caldera 80 km wide.
For comparison, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano 10 km high and 120 km wide. The volume of Olympus Mons is about 100 times larger than Mauna Loa.
Cause Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system
Reporting from NASA, the main difference between volcanoes on Mars and Earth is their size; volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars are 10 to 100 times larger than those on Earth.
Also read: Mars Rotates Faster, What’s Up With This Planet?
Lava flows on the surface of Mars have been observed for longer periods, possibly due to higher eruption rates and lower surface gravity.
Another reason why volcanoes on Mars are so massive is because the crust on Mars doesn’t move like it does on Earth. On Earth, hot spots remain stationary but crustal plates move above them.
The Hawaiian Islands result from the northwestward movement of the Pacific plate over a stationary lava-producing hot spot.
As the plate moves over the hotspot, new volcanoes form and existing ones become extinct. This distributes the total volume of lava among many volcanoes rather than just one large volcano.
Also read: What would a simulation of living on Mars for a year look like?
Launching Space, Olympus Mons is a shield volcano. Instead of violently spewing molten material, shield volcanoes are formed from lava that slowly flows down their sides.
As a result, Olympus Mons appears low, squat, with an average slope of only 5 percent.
Olympus Mons is still a relatively young volcano. Although they have taken billions of years to form, some mountain regions may only be a few million years old.
Thus, Olympus Mons may still be an active volcano with the potential to erupt.
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2023-08-11 11:30:00
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