Olympus Mons 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. Many of the flows have
Maat Mons Maat Mons Maat Mons is a massive shield volcano. It is the second-highest mountain, and the highest volcano, on the planet Venus. It rises above the mean planetary radius at , and nearly 5 km above the surrounding plains. It is named after the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, Ma'at. Maat Mons has a large summit caldera, 28×31 km in size. Within the large caldera there are at least five smaller collapse craters, up to 10 km in diameter. A chain of small craters 3–5 km in diameter extends some 40 km along the southeast flank of the volcano,