Tharsis
Sign in to saveTharsis () is a vast volcanic plateau centered near the equator in the western hemisphere of Mars. The region is home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including the three enormous shield volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Ascraeus Mons, which are collectively known as the Tharsis Montes. Current consensus is that Tharsis overlays a hot spot, similar to those thought to underlay volcanic island chains on Earth.
Key facts
- Feature on celestial object.name
- Tharsis rise
- Feature on celestial object.image
- Tharsis - Valles Marineris MOLA shaded colorized zoom 32.jpg
- Feature on celestial object.caption
- The Tharsis region (shown in shades of red and brown) dominates the western hemisphere of Mars as seen in this Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) colorized relief map.
- Feature on celestial object.type
- Volcanic plateau, volcanic province
- Feature on celestial object.eponym
- Tarshish
- Feature on celestial object.diameter
- ~5 000 km
- Feature on celestial object.peak
- ~7 km (excluding volcanoes)
- Feature on celestial object.location
- Western hemisphere of Mars
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
15 sectionsContents
- Location
- Extant
- North and south
- Plana
- Montes
- Geology
- Composition
- Age
- True polar wander on Mars
- Volcanism
- Tharsis in popular culture
- See also
- Explanatory notes
- References
- External links
Tharsis () is a vast volcanic plateau centered near the equator in the western hemisphere of Mars. The region is home to the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including the three enormous shield volcanoes Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Ascraeus Mons, which are collectively known as the Tharsis Montes. Current consensus is that Tharsis overlays a hot spot, similar to those thought to underlay volcanic island chains on Earth.
The tallest volcano on the planet, Olympus Mons, is often associated with the Tharsis region but is actually located off the western edge of the plateau. The name Tharsis is the Greco-Latin transliteration of the biblical Tarshish, the land at the western extremity of the known world.