The images, captured by the Mars Express orbiter, reveal the volcano’s southeast flank with hundreds of overlapping lava flows.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has shared stunning images of the foot of Mars’ giant volcano, Olympus Mons, which stands at an impressive 27 km high and has a base over 600 km wide, making it the largest volcano in our solar system – more than twice the height of Mauna Kea on Earth.
The images shared by the astronauts on Instagram show frozen rivers of lava which flowed down Olympus Mons.
See the images here:
Olympus Mons was first discovered by NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971. Initially, scientists believed it to be a mountain, but subsequent missions revealed its true nature.
It is believed that Olympus Mons was formed around 3.5 billion years ago, during Mars’ early geological period. The volcano is considered dormant, with no recent eruptions. Its gentle slopes and lack of impact craters suggest a relatively young surface, shaped by lava flows.
The images, captured by the Mars Express orbiter, reveal the volcano’s southeast flank with hundreds of overlapping lava flows, steep cliffs and traces of ancient collapse.
As per the ESA, the scarp, which is a cliff up to 9 km high, encircles the entire volcano, formed by huge landslides that sent debris hundreds of kilometres away.
“The lava flows – now solid rock – once streamed down the volcano’s slopes, spreading into wide fans and carving channels and tubes as they cooled. Some ended in smooth, rounded “tongues” before reaching the plains,” wrote ESA in the social media post.
The space agency further mentioned a “horseshoe-shaped channel” may once have carried lava, as well as water, in the lower plains. It hints at a more complex past.
“With only a few small craters, this surface is geologically young – perhaps just tens of millions of years old – a blink in Mars’ 4.6-billion-year history,” said ESA.