Elysium Mons
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Elysium Mons Template:IPAc-en is a volcano on Mars located in the volcanic province Elysium, at Script error: No such module "Coordinates"., in the Martian eastern hemisphere. It stands about Script error: No such module "convert". above its base,[1] and about Script error: No such module "convert". above the Martian datum,[1] making it the third tallest Martian mountain in terms of relief and the fourth highest in elevation. Its diameter is about Script error: No such module "convert"., with a summit caldera about Script error: No such module "convert". across. It is flanked by the smaller volcanoes Hecates Tholus to the northeast, and Albor Tholus to the southeast.
Discovery
Elysium Mons was discovered in 1972 in images returned by the Mariner 9 orbiter.
Terrestrial analog
The terrestrial volcano Emi Koussi (in Chad) has been studied as an analog of Elysium Mons. The two shield volcanoes have summit calderas of similar size, but Elysium Mons is 3.5 times larger in diameter and 6 times higher than its counterpart on Earth.
Possible source of nakhlites
A 6.5 km diameter crater at 29.674 N, 130.799 E, in the volcanic plains to the northwest of Elysium Mons has been identified as a possible source for the nakhlite meteorites, a family of similar basaltic Martian meteorites with cosmogenic ages of about 10.7 Ma, suggesting ejection from Mars by a single impact event. The dates of the igneous rocks of the nakhlites range from 1416 ± 7 Ma to 1322 ± 10 Ma. These dates plus the crater dimensions suggest a growth rate of the source volcano during that interval of 0.4–0.7 m per Ma, far slower than would be expected for a terrestrial volcano. This implies that Martian volcanism had slowed greatly by that point in history.[2]
Gallery
-
Viking Orbiter 1 mosaic (1977)
-
Topography of the Elysium Mons area, from MOLA
-
Mars Global Surveyor view of the summit area
-
Rim of Elysium Mons caldera, as seen by HiRISE
See also
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- Google Mars - zoomable map centered on Elysium Mons
- "Elysium Mons Volcano" - NASA images of Elysium Mons, from Malin Space Science Systems
Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control