The planet Earth has several big mountains and large volcanoes but their size is not even close to that of Olympus Mons, an enormous shield volcano, which is located on planet Mars. The latest statistical data show that is has reached the height of nearly 16 miles (25 kilometers). That is almost 300% taller that the biggest mountain the our planet - Mount Everest and over 500% taller that the biggest volcano in Earth - Mauna Kea. Olympus Mons takes up a lot of land, as it measures 550 km across (which is just a little less that the territory of a big European country, such as France). So how did this volcano become so big and tall? Some experts suggest that such volcanic activity may be connected with the assumption that there are no plate tectonics on Mars. So unlike on our planet, the Earth, any volcano can spew lava for billions of years, as the crust of Mars remains over a stationary hotspot. Such long activity may have resulted in the formation of such big volcano with an enormous height. There are many other fun scientific facts you should know about volcanoes in general and Olympus Mons in particular. You can see some of them in this interactive video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74_E6S5AWqI We have put together a list of fun scientific facts and here are some of them: - the Etna of Italy – one of the most active volcanoes; - how can a single eruption change the color of sunsets all over the world? - volcanic influence on the atmosphere and Earth landforms; - Iceland the land of glaciers and volcanoes (fire and ice); - and many more in the video itself. Thanks for your time.
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