Tharsis Montes – north of the Martian equator
Tharsis Montes – north of the Martian equator
The Tharsis region on Mars is a large regional uplift approximately the size of Europe. It towers above the surrounding terrain by almost five kilometres. Rising from Tharsis over a distance of more than a thousand kilometres from northeast to southwest are three prominent shield volcanoes, Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons – the Tharsis Montes – all of which are more than ten kilometres high. Ascraeus Mons is the highest of these three shield volcanoes. With a diameter of about 480 kilometres and a height of 18 kilometres, it is the second highest mountain on Mars. ESA's Mars Express spacecraft passed over the volcano on 5 April 2022 during orbit 24,045 and scanned the area in the large frame. The scenes depicted here are from the inner rectangular section.
