the extinct martian volcano olympus mons is about the size of italy.
the extinct martian volcano olympus mons is about the size of italy.
the extinct martian volcano olympus mons is about the size of?
italy
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 nearly (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 . 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, 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
the tamu massif was formed about 145 million years ago during the late jurassic to early cretaceous period over a relatively short period of time (a few million years) and then became extinct. tamu massif was formed during one, geologically brief eruptive period, which scientists had previously thought was impossible on earth. if confirmed, the suggestion that it could be a single volcano would make the tamu massif the largest known volcano on earth, dwarfing the current record-holder, mauna loa on the hawaiian islands. the main part of tamu's rounded dome extends over an area of , totaling more than , many times larger than mauna loa, which has an area of , and about half the area of the martian volcano olympus mons. the entire mass of tamu consists of basalt. its slopes are very gradual, ranging from less than half a degree to one degree near its summit. the shatsky rise oceanic plateau is comparable in size to california or japan, but tamu massif, which is the plateau's oldest and largest edifice, is comparable in size to new mexico or britain and ireland together. a study in 2016 found that tamu massif likely encompassed the entire shatsky rise, meaning that tamu massif has an area of about , comparable to the size of new mexico or japan, and surpassing olympus mons in surface area, though it has not yet been determined which of the two volcanoes has a greater mass.
tamu massif