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Olympus Mons (/ ə ˌ l ɪ m p ə s ˈ m ɒ n z, oʊ-/; [4] Latin for 'Mount Olympus') is a large shield volcano on Mars. It is over 21.9 km (13.6 mi; 72,000 ft) high as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), [ 5 ] about 2.5 times the elevation of Mount Everest above sea level .
Mons (plural montes) is the Latin word for mountain; it is a descriptor term used in astrogeology for mountainous features in the Solar System. The three Tharsis Montes volcanoes are enormous by terrestrial standards, ranging in diameter from 375 km (233 mi) (Pavonis Mons) to 475 km (295 mi) (Arsia Mons). [1]
Mons — large, isolated, mountain; may or may not be of volcanic origin. plural montes — mountain range. Tholus — small dome-shaped mountain or hill. plural tholi — group of (usually not contiguous) small mountains. Dorsum — long low range. Name type not present on Mars. plural dorsa
However, the largest volcano on the planet, Olympus Mons, is thought to have formed when the plates were not moving. Olympus Mons may have formed just after the plate motion stopped. The mare-like plains on Mars are roughly 3 to 3.5 billion years old. [72] The giant shield volcanoes are younger, formed between 1 and 2 billion years ago.
Olympus Mons and its associated lava flows and aureole deposits form another distinct subprovince of the Tharsis region. This subregion is about 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) across. It lies off the main topographic bulge, but is related to the volcanic processes that formed Tharsis. [10] Olympus Mons is the youngest of the large Tharsis volcanoes.
The layering is believed to have come from the global warming and cooling cycle on Mars; during cooling periods, water migrated to the poles and formed the ice-water layers, while on subsequent warming, the unthawed ice water was covered by layers of dust and dirt from windstorms on the surface, helping to preserve the ice water. [44] [45]
In 2024, scientists Pascal Lee and Sourabh Shubham found evidence from CRISM, the HiRISE camera, and the Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter that this heat source was a volcano near the northeast end of the labyrinthus that they dubbed Noctis Mons, which would be the seventh-highest mountain on Mars at 9,028 m (29,619 ft), and that the eastern part of ...
The central part contains Amazonis Planitia and the eastern part includes the western flank of the largest known volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. The Amazonis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program .