Mars volcano Olympus Mons was once an island, this is the largest volcano in the solar system

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Mars volcano Olympus Mons was once an island, this is the largest volcano in the solar system

 

  • You will be surprised to know that Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest volcano in our solar system. It is larger than the US state of Arizona. It is about 14 miles (22 km) above the desert around Mars.

 

  • It looks spectacular from the orbit of Mars. But now this giant Mars volcano has been imagined as an island surrounded by water. On July 25, 2023, Researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Université Paris-Saclay in France announced the results of their new study which suggested that Olympus Mons was once a volcanic island, which was formed in the deep sea. was surrounded by This research is published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Olympus Mons is not only big but huge and far exceeds the size of any other volcano on Earth. This is the Earth’s largest volcano Mauna Loa in Hawaii, which is 120 km wide and 9 km high. In comparison, Olympus Mons is about 600 km wide at its widest point.Olympus Mons is a shield volcano. Regarding which scientists said that it is probably made from the eruption of very liquid (low viscosity) basaltic lava. Shield volcanoes have a lower profile than other types of volcanoes – they are wider than they are tall.

In recent years, there has been much evidence of ancient oceans in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Also signs of former coastlines and marine sediments have also been found. Based on this, scientists believe that an ocean may have surrounded Olympus Mons, which means that it was actually a volcanic island a few billion years ago.

The new study has shown that Olympus Mons shares morphological similarities with many active volcanic islands on Earth. These include Pico Island in Portugal, Fogo Island in Canada, and Hawaii in the United States. Anthony Hildenbrand, geologist at the CNRS, who led the research team.

https://space23lyear.com
Source: Earth Sky.

Photo: Anthony Hildenbrand/Geops/CNRS.


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