A map of the surface of Mars, showing where some volcanoes are located.
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Image from: NASA

Martian Volcanoes

On this map of Mars, the lightly cratered Tharsis Ridge is shown, as well as the heavily cratered Martian highlands (near the bottom of the picture), and Valles Marineris to the right. The volcanoes are the yellow and red dots in the sea of blue in this image.

The Tharsis Ridge is the home of several of the Martian volcanoes, including Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons is the leftmost volcano in the image. The three large volcanoes which accompany Olympus Mons on the Tharsis Ridge are Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Ascraeus Mons. Measurements returned by Mars Global surveyor demonstrate the very large size of these volcanoes. Other volcanos named Tharsis Tholus, Ceraunius Tholus, Elysium Mons, and Albov Tholus are found in the right-hand side of the large topographic map of Mars, as well as the very large version of the map to the left.

These volcanoes came into being early in Martian history.


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