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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.
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The solar system's tallest mountain is possibly the Olympus Mons on Mars with an altitude of 21.9 to 26 km. The central peak of Rheasilvia on the asteroid Vesta is also a candidate to be the tallest, with an estimated at up to between 20 and 25 km from peak to base.
Olympus Mons, Arsia Mons, Alba Patera: Viking Orbiter Views of Mars by the Viking Orbiter Imaging Team. Ascraeus Mons: Malin Space Science Systems Release No. MOC2-950 via the Mars Global Surveyor. Pavonis Mons: Malin Space Science Systems Release No. MOC2-481 via the Mars Global Surveyor.
Did you know Mars is named after the Roman god of war?
Tharsis is a land of great volcanoes. Olympus Mons is the tallest known volcano in the Solar System; it is 100 times larger than any volcano on Earth. Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons are at least 200 miles across and are over six miles above the plateau that they sit on—and, the plateau is three to four miles above the zero altitude of Mars. [4]
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.
Image of the Diacria Quadrangle (MC-2). The southeastern part is marked by aureole deposits of the largest known volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. The Diacria quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program.