Massive volcano "hiding in plain sight" on Mars

[Judi Lynn]

Tharsis region and Valles Marineris on Mars. Credit: Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library / Getty Images Plus.

March 15, 2024

Evrim Yazgin

A giant volcano has been ‘hiding’ on the surface of Mars – but scientists have only just identified the behemoth, as well as possible glacier ice beneath its surface.

The volcano has been provisionally given the title “Noctis volcano” pending an official name.

Noctis volcano has been imaged repeatedly since 1971. But it has been eroded almost beyond recognition. It lies at the border between the Noctis Labyrinthus – a region of maze-like, deep, steep-walled valleys – and the vast canyons of Valles Marineris.

The newly discovered volcano lies on the eastern part of Mars’s Tharsis volcanic province.

Its true nature as a volcano was finally given away when planetary scientists were analysing the remains of a glacier in 2023, they announced at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas.

A paper has been published on the Universities Space Research Association website.

Noctis volcano is 9,022 metres high and 450 km wide making it nearly 200 metres taller than Mt Everest. But it’s not the Red Planet’s biggest volcano.

More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/mars-massive-volcano-found/