Untitled Document
The escarpment along the
west side of Olympus Mons on Mars rises 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) in this new
image from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
And that's just part of
the towering volcano, the tallest in the solar system. Olympus Mons soars 15
miles (24 km) above the surrounding surface, dwarfing the largest terrestrial
volcano, Mauna Loa, which is just 6 miles (9 km) high, including the portion
of the volcano that extends underwater to the sea floor.
Around the western flanks,
barely visible at the bottom are the beginning of broad plains called aureole
(from the Latin for 'circle of light'). To the north and west of the volcano,
these aureole deposits are regions of gigantic ridges and blocks extending some
620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the summit like petals of a flower.
The origin of the deposits
has challenged planetary scientists for an explanation for decades, according
to ESA scientists. The most persistent explanation is landslides.
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU
(G. Neukum)
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