All Topics  
Tharsis

 
Tharsis

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Tharsis
 
 
  Topics Tharsis Topic Home

The Tharsis region on Mars is an enormous volcanic plateau
Volcanic plateau

A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus....
 located on Mars' equator, at the western end of Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris is a vast canyon system that runs along the Mars equator just east of the Tharsis region. At more than 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep, the Valles Marineris rift system is larger than any of Earth's canyon#largest canyons, and is the largest known crevice in the solar system....
. Its name comes from the Bible, where it was the name for the land at western extremity of the known world. (See also Tarshish
Tarshish

Tarshish occurs in the Hebrew Bible with these meanings:*One of the sons of Javan .*The name of a remote place across the sea which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon ....
.)

It contains the Tharsis Bulge
Bulge

A bulge is something which sticks out from a surface.Bulge may also refer to:*A localized discontinuity in an extended military line, for example, the Battle of the Bulge, a major World War II battle...
, on which some of the solar system's largest volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
s are located.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Tharsis'
Start a new discussion about 'Tharsis'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Tharsis Pia02049
The Tharsis region on Mars is an enormous volcanic plateau
Volcanic plateau

A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus....
 located on Mars' equator, at the western end of Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris is a vast canyon system that runs along the Mars equator just east of the Tharsis region. At more than 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep, the Valles Marineris rift system is larger than any of Earth's canyon#largest canyons, and is the largest known crevice in the solar system....
. Its name comes from the Bible, where it was the name for the land at western extremity of the known world. (See also Tarshish
Tarshish

Tarshish occurs in the Hebrew Bible with these meanings:*One of the sons of Javan .*The name of a remote place across the sea which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon ....
.)

It contains the Tharsis Bulge
Bulge

A bulge is something which sticks out from a surface.Bulge may also refer to:*A localized discontinuity in an extended military line, for example, the Battle of the Bulge, a major World War II battle...
, on which some of the solar system's largest volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
s are located. Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons

Olympus Mons is the tallest known volcano and mountain in the Solar System. It is located on the planet Mars at approximately 18?N 133?W / 18, -133....
  formed by a mantle plume
Mantle plume

A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth's mantle . As the heads of mantle plumes can partly melt when they reach shallow depths, they are thought to be the cause of volcano centers known as Hotspot and probably also to have caused flood basalts....
 over a period of about one hundred million years during the Noachian epoch (between 3.8 and 3.5 billion years ago).

The vast size of the Tharsis Bulge had a great impact on the geology of Mars. Tharsis is surrounded by a ring-shaped topographical depression called the Tharsis trough, and on the opposite side of the planet is a smaller bulge called Arabia Terra
Arabia Terra

Arabia Terra is a large upland region in the north of Mars. It is densely cratered and heavily eroded. This battered topography indicates great age, and Arabia Terra is presumed to be one of the oldest terrains on the planet....
 which may have formed as a result of the weight of Tharsis. These features were a major influence on the formation of Mars' drainage valleys, most of which formed in the late Noachian. The large quantities of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 and water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 vapor that could have been outgassed by Tharsis magma
Magma

Magma is molten Rock that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and may also exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles....
 may have also played a significant role in Mars' wet period; Roger J. Phillips calculated in 2001 that it could have formed a 1.5-bar
Bar (unit)

The bar , decibar and the millibar are units of pressure. They are not SI units, nor are they cgs units, but they are accepted for use with the SI....
 carbon dioxide atmosphere and a global layer of water that averaged 120 meters thick.

Alba Patera
Alba Patera

File:Alba Patera - topography map.pngAlba Mons is an enormous shield volcano to the north of the Tharsis region of Mars . The volcanic crater is named Alba Patera....
 is a unique volcanic feature to the north of the Tharsis region.

Tharsis in Popular Culture

Tharsis appears in the japanese manga and anime Voices of a Distant Star
Voices of a Distant Star

is a Japanese anime Original Video Animation by Makoto Shinkai. It chronicles a long-distance relationship between a teenage couple who communicate by sending emails via their mobile phones across interstellar space....
, where the first encounter between mankind and an alien race referred to as Tarsians took place.

The Tharsis plateau is the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 novel Mechanicum by Grahm McNeill.

See also

  • Geography of Mars
  • Tharsis Montes
    Tharsis Montes

    Tharsis Montes is a range of three volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars . It is a plateau and the largest volcanic region on Mars.It consists of Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons, which are arranged in that order from north to south....


External links