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2023-02-18 22:14:27
Mount Olympus (Olympus Mons) on Mars is 21,171 meters higher than the Martian datum, which is about 2.4 times the height of Mount Everest (including the thickness of the snow on the summit – 8,848 meters above the level). seawater). However, if calculated from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain vertically, Mount Olympus will be 21,900 meters high.
Mount Olympus, is a shield volcano on Mars. A shield volcano is a large volcano with a wide upper surface and a gentle slope, 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, an altitude of about 4,000 meters.
Some say its height may not be so because there are no oceans on Mars. However, even though there is no sea level on Mars, the Martian landmark mentioned here is equivalent to sea level on Earth. In addition, this landmark is not the lowest point on the surface of Mars, for example the 1,000 km plain northwest of Olympus Mons, it is 5,000 meters lower than the Martian datum. .
If counted from this plain as a reference point, the vertical height of Mount Olympus will be up to 26 km.
If the geodetic reference system (datum) of Mars is equal to the sea level of our Earth, the height of Mount Olympus is almost 2.4 times higher than Earth’s Everest! The crater of this shield volcano consists of 6 collapse craters, with a length and width of 80 x 60 km.
The deepest place below sea level on Earth is the Mariana Trench, the deepest place is 11,000 meters deep, but it 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 a geodetic landmark of the Earth, the absolute height of Mount Everest will be 12,548 meters, from which it can be seen that it is still lower. much more than Mount Olympus on Mars.
Olympus Mons is located at 18.65 degrees north latitude and 226.2 degrees east longitude on Mars. The width of the entire mountain is about 600 km, that is, the average horizontal line distance from the base of the mountain to the top of the mountain can reach 300 km. Therefore, Mount Olympus is completely invisible from the base of the mountain, and it can only be seen in its entirety from space.
To this day, the magnificence of Mount Olympus is still considered unique in the Solar System, and no planet has ever been found with such a large mountain. Because of its enormous size, we won’t be able to see its full image from the surface of Mars.
Mount Everest is the highest peak of the Himalayas, the average altitude of the Himalayas is 6,000 meters, formed by the collision and extrusion of two large continental plates. Unlike Mount Olympus, the slopes of Mount Everest are very steep, the northern slopes have an average slope of up to 45 degrees, in many places there are steep cliffs, so climbing is 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 have less difficulty when compared to Mount Everest. with climbing Mount Everest.
Olympus Mons is a volcano and it has erupted in the past, but then the core of Mars gradually cooled, now it is just an extinct volcano, and this is also considered a large volcano largest 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 is also the mountain with the largest difference in height from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain on Earth, from the foot of the mountain at an altitude of 5,998 meters below Pacific sea level to the top, the mountain is at altitude 4,205 meters above sea level, the height difference between the foot of the mountain and the top of the mountain is 10,203 meters.
Mountains are composed mainly of rock, so their pressure resistance is limited. Scientists say that Earth’s gravity environment has set a limit for the height of mountains, the height of mountains on Earth will not be able to exceed 20,000 meters, even very difficult to exceed 15,000 meters. . The altitude of Mount Everest once exceeded 10,000 meters, but it was quickly lowered.
The reason why there are higher mountains on Mars than Earth is because Mars’ gravity is much smaller than Earth’s, the volume of this planet is only 1/7 of Earth and its mass is only 1/ 11 Earth.
The pressure on Mars is inherently very low, only about 0.75% of atmospheric pressure on Earth, and when it reaches Mount Olympus, the pressure there is only 8% of the Martian baseline; On Mount Everest, the barometric pressure is 33%. Therefore, it can be seen that the environment of Mount Olympus will be much worse and harsher than Mount Everest.
The small mass and small gravity will make the height limit of the mountains larger. In fact, the smaller the masses of the planets in the universe, the less round their shapes are, and the peak heights of the peaks on their surface far exceed the altitude of the Earth.
Source: Earthlymission; Nature; NASA
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