Where is the largest volcano in the Solar System?

Mount Olympus on Mars is the largest mountain in the Solar System and is said to be the tallest of the eight planets , it is 2.4 times taller than Mount Everest, and you are forced to stand in outer space if you want to see the whole mountain.

Mount Olympus (Olympus Mons) on Mars is 21,171 meters higher than the Martian benchmark, which is about 2.4 times the height of Mount Everest (including the thickness of snow on the summit - 8,848 meters above sea level). However, if measured vertically from the foot of the mountain to the top, Mount Olympus would be 21,900 meters high.

Mount Olympus, is a shield volcano on Mars. A shield volcano is a large volcano with a broad, gently sloping top surface, resembling a shield. Volcanoes of this shape also exist in large numbers on Earth, for example the Big Island of Hawaii is a typical shield volcano with an area of ​​10,414 square kilometers and an elevation of about 4,000 meters.

Some say its height may not be correct because there are no oceans on Mars. However, although there is no sea level on Mars, the Martian datum mentioned here is equivalent to sea level on Earth. Also, this datum is not the lowest point on the surface of Mars, for example, the 1,000km plain located northwest of Olympus Mons is 5,000 meters lower than the Martian datum.

If calculated from this plain as a reference point, the vertical height of Mount Olympus would be up to 26km.

If the Martian datum were equal to Earth's sea level, Mount Olympus would be nearly 2.4 times taller than Earth's Mount Everest! The crater of this shield volcano consists of six stacked craters, measuring 80 x 60 km in length and width.

The deepest place below sea level on Earth is the Mariana Trench, the deepest place is 11,000 meters deep, but this does not represent the average depth of the entire ocean. The average depth of the oceans on Earth is about 3,700 meters, if this depth is taken as the geodetic reference point of the Earth, the absolute height of Mount Everest will be 12,548 meters, from which it can be seen that it is still much lower than Mount Olympus on Mars.

Olympus Mons is located at 18.65 degrees north latitude and 226.2 degrees east longitude on Mars. The entire mountain is about 600 kilometers wide, meaning that the average horizontal distance from the foot of the mountain to the summit can reach 300 kilometers. Therefore, Mount Olympus is completely invisible from the foot of the mountain, and it can only be seen in its entirety from space.

To this day, the enormity of Mount Olympus is considered unique in the Solar System, and no other planet has ever been found to have a mountain this large. Because of its enormous size, we would not be able to see its full image from the surface of Mars.

Mount Everest is the highest peak of the Himalayas, with an average height of 6,000 meters, formed by the collision and extrusion of two large continental plates. Unlike Mount Olympus, Mount Everest's slopes are very steep, the northern slope has an average slope of up to 45 degrees, and many places are vertical cliffs, making climbing quite difficult.

Although Mount Olympus has a great vertical height, it is not as steep as Mount Everest , its slope is very gentle, so it can be said that if we climb Mount Olympus, we will encounter less difficulty than climbing Mount Everest.

Olympus Mons is a volcano and it has erupted in the past, but then the core of Mars gradually cooled down, now it is just an extinct volcano, and it is also considered the largest volcano in the Solar System with an area of ​​about 300,000 square kilometers.

Olympus Mons is a shield volcano, and this type of volcano also exists on Earth . Mauna Loa (Hawaiian: Mauna Kea) is one of the largest shield volcanoes on Earth. In addition, Mauna Loa volcano also has the largest difference in elevation from base to summit on Earth, from the base of the mountain at an altitude of 5,998 meters below sea level in the Pacific Ocean to the peak at an altitude of 4,205 meters above sea level, the difference in elevation between the base and summit is 10,203 meters.

Mountains are made mainly of rock, so their ability to withstand pressure is limited. Scientists say that the Earth's gravity environment has set a limit on the height of mountains, the height of mountains on Earth will not exceed 20,000 meters, and it is very difficult to exceed 15,000 meters. The height of Mount Everest once exceeded 10,000 meters, but it quickly decreased.

The reason why Mars has higher mountains than Earth is because Mars's gravity is much smaller than Earth's, the volume of this planet is only 1/7 of Earth's and its mass is only 1/11 of Earth's.

The pressure on Mars is very low, only about 0.75% of the atmospheric pressure on Earth, and when reaching Mount Olympus, the pressure there is only 8% of the basic level on Mars; on Mount Everest, the atmospheric pressure is 33%. Therefore, it can be seen that the environment on Mount Olympus will be much worse and harsher than Mount Everest.

Small masses and small gravitational forces will put a limit on the height of large mountains. In fact, the smaller the mass of planets in the universe, the less circular their shape is and the maximum height of the peaks on their surfaces far exceeds that of Earth.