Existence
of Supervolcano in the Solar System!
It’s
interesting to know that the biggest volcano of the earth right now is Mauna Loa situated with other five volcanoes in the Big Island, Hawaii. But it’s even more fascinating to know that giant volcano has
been detected in our solar system too! This is a story of a
mega-volcano ‘Olympus Mons’ that belongs
to planet Mars. Mars has been known to be
peppered with several remarkable surface features including valleys as well as volcanoes
(active or inactive)! According to Greek mythology, the ‘Olympus’ name arrives
from mountain home, which was inhabited by twelve Greek gods.
Around
the second half of 19th century, Italian astronomer Giovanni
Virginio Schiaparelli observed some special regions on Mars that he referred as
‘channels’. He also noticed a specific light colored spot on the Mars surface and
assumed it to be the peak of huge mountain. Giovanni named the spot as ‘Nix Olympica’ (means snows of
Olympus). Interestingly, Giovanni always gave names from Latin and Mediterranean places
derived from ancient history, mythology and Bible.
NASA
however changed this name to ‘Olympus Mons’ (means ‘Mount of Olympus’) after getting
better pictures with their specialized high-tech probe. Further detailed and
exciting picture of these surfaces came in light on 14th November,
1971 when Mariner 9 (the 1st artificial satellite of Mars launched by NASA)
arrived at the ‘Red Planate’. It revealed the astonishing fact that Olympus
Mons is not just a huge mountain; it’s a massive volcano in the “Tharsis Montes” (the
largest volcanic region on Mars)! Soon Scientists started measuring Olympus Mons in all dimensions. Being a shield-type volcano,
its diameter is 624 km (approximately same size with Arizona State in USA); height
is 25 km and a rim of 6 km high scarp. Olympus Mons in fact rises three times
higher than Mount
Everest! Therefore, Olympus Mons is
the largest supervolcano detected so far in our solar system.
The
important question that may pop-up in our mind is if there are any particular factors for
Olympus Mons being so gigantic! Intensive research work by scientists revealed
that the flow of molten lava on the Martian surface is pragmatically
much longer due to the result of volcano’s higher eruption rates and lower
surface gravity. Another important reason is absence of movable Tectonic Plates
in the Mars. Therefore, Olympus Mons was getting its ‘supersize’ to sit over
its specific place for its entire historical period! Compared to the age of our
solar system, Olympus Mons is considered as
relatively young volcano although it took billions of years to form. According
to several astrophysicists and geologists, Olympus Mons is still known as an active volcano with the potential to erupt
again. Therefore, due to its unique
gigantism, wideness, and mysterious features, Olympus Mons deserves to be the
“seventh wonder” of our solar system.
