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Business News/ Science / Second tallest volcano on Mars is higher than Mount Everest. See pictures

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Second tallest volcano on Mars is higher than Mount Everest. See pictures

1 min read 16 May 2023, 05:20 PM IST Join us

Livemint ,Edited By Karishma Pranav Bhavsar

The height of Ascraeus Mons is measured 18 km in height and has a huge base diameter of 480 km, giving it a footprint roughly the size of Romania on Earth.

The images shared by ESA comprises of observations from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).

The European Space Agency (ESA) has captured pitted, fissured flank of Ascraeus Mons which is the second-tallest volcano on the planet Mars. Report also claim that Ascraeus Mons height is twice the height of the Earth's tallest mountain, Mount Everest.

Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and tallest of three prominent volcanoes found in the Tharsis region of Mars. The Tharsis region of the planet is a volcanic plateau in Mars’ western hemisphere.

The height of Ascraeus Mons is measured 18 km in height and has a huge base diameter of 480 km, giving it a footprint roughly the size of Romania on Earth. With this height, it shows that the height of Ascraeus Mons is taller than that of the Mount Everest whose height as of March 2020 is 8,848.86 meters above the sea level.

Ascraeus Mons is surpassed in height only by Olympus Mons which is the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System, ESA states.

This image shows the region surrounding the martian volcanoes Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons. The area outlined by the larger white box indicates the area imaged by ESA’s Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera on 15 January 2023 during orbit 24045. The smaller inset white box shows the particular region highlighted by the new images from Mars Express. (Image: NASA/MGS/MOLA Science Team)

As per ESA, there is a dramatic difference in elevation from one side to the other, with the left (southern) side of the frame sitting about 10 km lower than the right (northern) side.

Deep, irregular fissures in the Martian surface can be seen snaking towards the camera. (Image: NASA/MGS/MOLA Science Team)

This annotated image from ESA’s Mars Express shows the southern flanks of Ascraeus Mons, the second-tallest volcano on Mars.

Moreover, to the right side of the frame lies numerous wrinkled lava flows. As per ESA, this crinkled ground then encounters chains of ‘pit craters,’ features where strings of circular or near-circular depressions have combined and coalesced to form troughs.

The ESA further states that 'Sinuous rilles', which are tiny, meandering channels without rims that are frequently found near the sides of volcanoes, are present on the ground to the left of the pit crater chains. Their formations is still unclear but it may involve flows of lava, ash or water or even a combination of the three.

Meanwhile, the Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003, imaging Mars’ surface, mapping its minerals, identifying the composition and circulation of its tenuous atmosphere, probing beneath its crust, and exploring how various phenomena interact in the Martian environment.

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