Why could Mars build such a huge volcano?

No plate tectonics and lower gravity

Olympus Mons Quiz: The Solar System's Tallest Volcano

This Olympus Mons quiz climbs the giant shield volcano of Mars. Play 10 interactive questions on a height of about 22 km, nearly three times Everest, a base hundreds of kilometers across, gentle slopes, a summit caldera about 80 km wide, towering cliffs around its edge, the Tharsis region, why low gravity and no plate tectonics let it grow and how it was spotted from Earth.

Start Olympus Mons Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Planet
On which planet is Olympus Mons?
Type
What kind of volcano is Olympus Mons?
Height
About how tall is Olympus Mons?
Wide
About how wide is its base?
Slope
What are its slopes like?
Caldera
What sits at its summit?
Cliffs
What surrounds much of its edge?
Why
Why could Mars build such a huge volcano?
Region
Which volcanic region holds Olympus Mons?
Old
What was Olympus Mons called when seen as a bright spot?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: On which planet is Olympus Mons?
Answer: Mars
It is in the Tharsis region.
Q2: What kind of volcano is Olympus Mons?
Answer: A shield volcano
Like Hawaii's volcanoes, only bigger.
Q3: About how tall is Olympus Mons?
Answer: About 22 km
Nearly three times Everest.
Q4: About how wide is its base?
Answer: Around 600 km
It would cover a large country.
Q5: What are its slopes like?
Answer: Gentle
You might not notice you are climbing.
Q6: What sits at its summit?
Answer: A caldera about 80 km wide
It formed from collapses.
Q7: What surrounds much of its edge?
Answer: Huge cliffs
Some are several kilometers tall.
Q8: Why could Mars build such a huge volcano?
Answer: No plate tectonics and lower gravity
Lava piled up in one spot.
Q9: Which volcanic region holds Olympus Mons?
Answer: Tharsis
Other giant volcanoes are nearby.
Q10: What was Olympus Mons called when seen as a bright spot?
Answer: Nix Olympica
It means snows of Olympus.

The Tallest Volcano Known

Olympus Mons is a shield volcano on Mars, about 22 km tall, nearly three times the height of Mount Everest. It is the tallest known volcano in the Solar System. Its base spans around 600 km, and its slopes are so gentle that a climber might not notice the rise.

At the summit lies a caldera about 80 km wide, formed by repeated collapses. Huge cliffs, some several kilometers tall, surround much of its edge. It sits in the Tharsis region, alongside other giant volcanoes.

Mars lacks plate tectonics, so the crust stayed over the same hot spot and lava piled up in one place for ages, and lower gravity let it grow taller. Before spacecraft, astronomers saw it as a bright spot called Nix Olympica, the snows of Olympus.

What This Quiz Teaches

Space fans will enjoy these questions.

Where it is
How big it is
What its summit holds
Why it grew so large
How it was first seen

Did You Know?

Its peak rises above much of Mars' air.
Hawaii's volcanoes are similar but smaller.
Orbiters have photographed it in detail.
Lava flows may be relatively young.
Valles Marineris lies nearby.