This is a list of
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
s on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
by
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum ยง Vert ...
, the
vertical position
Vertical position or vertical location, also known as vertical level or simply level, is a position along a vertical direction above or below a given vertical datum (reference level).
Vertical distance or vertical separation is the distance betwee ...
relative to the
areoid
The gravity of Mars is a natural phenomenon, due to the law of gravity, or gravitation, by which all things with mass around the planet Mars are brought towards it. It is weaker than Earth's gravity due to the planet's smaller mass. The average ...
, which is the Martian
vertical datum
In geodesy, surveying, hydrography and navigation, vertical datum or altimetric datum, is a reference coordinate surface used for vertical positions, such as the elevations of Earth-bound features (terrain, bathymetry, water level, and built stru ...
(the surface defined as zero elevation by average martian atmospheric pressure and planet radius). Elevation is ''not'' the height above the surrounding terrain (
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
).
*A mons (plural ''montes'') is a term used in
astrogeology
Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the g ...
to name extraterrestrial mountains and may or may not be of
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
origin.
*A patera refers to the dish-shaped depression atop a volcano that is not very high compared to its diameter.
*A tholus (pl. tholi) is the term used in astrogeology to describe a small domical mountain or hill.
*Listed mons elevation is the highest point (at 16 pixels/degree) within the feature.
*Listed patera elevation is the average elevation of the shallow dish-shaped depression (the actual 'patera') at the summit.
Notable extreme elevations on Earth and Venus are included (in bold ''and'' ''Italics'') for comparison, where the given elevations are relative to
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
.
See also
*
List of craters on Mars
__NOTOC__
This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names. Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning by ...
*
List of extraterrestrial volcanoes
This is a list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes located beyond planet Earth. They may be designated mons (mountain), patera (an irregular crater) or tholus (small mountain or hill) in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's ...
*
List of mountains on Mars
This is a list of all named mountains on Mars.
Most mountains have a name including one of the following elements:
* ''Mons'': a large, isolated, mountain.
* ''Montes'', plural of ''mons'': a mountain range.
* ''Tholus'': a small dome-shaped mount ...
*
List of tallest mountains in the Solar System
This is a list of the tallest mountains in the Solar System. This list includes peaks on all celestial bodies where significant mountains have been detected. For some celestial bodies, different peaks are given across different types of measure ...
*
Volcanism on Mars
Volcanic activity, or volcanism, has played a significant role in the geologic evolution of Mars. Scientists have known since the Mariner 9 mission in 1972 that volcanic features cover large portions of the Martian surface. These features in ...
References
* United States Geological Survey data files megt90n000eb.img and megt90n000eb.lbl
External links
*Olympus Mons, Arsia Mons, Alba Patera
Viking Orbiter Views of Marsby the
Viking Orbiter Imaging Team.
*Ascraeus Mons
Malin Space Science Systems Release No. MOC2-950via the
Mars Global Surveyor
''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the a ...
.
*Pavonis Mons
Malin Space Science Systems Release No. MOC2-481via the
Mars Global Surveyor
''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the a ...
.
*Elysium Mons
Malin Space Science Systemsvia the
Mars Global Surveyor
''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined the entire planet, from the ionosphere down through the a ...
.
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