Arsia Mons

Arsia Mons is the southernmost of three volcanos (collectively known as Tharsis Montes) on the Tharsis bulge near the equator of the planet Mars. To its north is Pavonis Mons, and north of that is Ascraeus Mons. The tallest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, is to its northwest. Its name comes from a corresponding albedo feature on a map by Giovanni Schiaparelli, which he named in turn after the legendary Roman forest of Arsia Silva.

Structure

Arsia Mons is a shield volcano with a relatively low slope and a massive caldera at its summit. The southernmost of the three Tharsis Montes volcanoes, it is the only major Tharsis volcano south of the equator.

The volcano is 435 kilometres (270 mi) in diameter, almost 20 kilometres (12 miles) high (more than 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) higher than the surrounding plains), and the summit caldera is 72 miles (approximately 110 km) wide. It experiences atmospheric pressure lower than 107 pascals at the summit. Except for Olympus Mons, it is the biggest volcano in volume. Arsia Mons has 30 times the volume of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the largest volcano on the Earth.