http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/astro1/slideshows/class37/011-mars-olympus-mons.jpgOlympus Mons is a volcano located on Mars. It is approximately 3 times the size of Mount Everest and is the tallest known volcano in the solar system. It was formed just like the volcanoes in Mexico. Olympus Mons was known as the Nix Olmpica. ( Latin for "Snow of Olympus") Olympus Mons is 21 kilometers above the surface of mars, and it is 55o kilometers wide with steep cliffs and it has a caldera complex that is 85 kilometers long, 60 kilometers wide, and 3 kilometers deep with six overlapping craters.
The top of Olympus Mons is above the Martian atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Olympus Mons is less then 1% of what is seen on earth, mars has much lower gravity which allows the atmosphere to go higher. It is a shield volcano, it is much wider than it is tall and has lava flowing our of the volcano vents over a long period of time. The craters and lava flow shows us that it is 115 years old but the region is only 2 billion years old.
Olympus Mons is located in a region that has many large volcanic features and numerous other shield volcanoes that look really small compared to the size of the Olympus Mons, they are known as Tharsis Montes, Arsia Mons Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons. The volcano is surrounded by a region known as the Olympus Mons aureole ("circle of life") with huge ridges and blocks 1,000 kilometers from the top. Olympus Mons is now an Extinct volcano.
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