Martian Olympus is three times taller than Earth's Everest, and its volume is 50 times that of any Earth's counterpart. Its caldera (depression at the top of the volcano) is 90 km. It is the largest young volcano on Mars. Olympus is visible even from Earth. Before the first flights of space satellites, the place on Mars, where Olympus is located, was known as the "Snows of Olympus" - the volcano reflects sunlight better and looks like a white spot from a distance.
It appeared during the Amazonian period - a period when Mars ceased to be attacked by a huge number of meteorites and became the dry, cold planet that we see today.
Mount Olympus is a huge extinct volcano. The width of the volcano proves that lava eruptions on the surface of Mars took place for a long time, which is why the lava spread over such a large area. The analysis of the images showed that the freshest lava is about 2 million years old. This is very small on a planetary scale, so scientists believe that the volcano can resume its activity at any time. The structure of the volcano suggests that Mars does not have tectonic plates as on Earth. Such a giant could not exist on our planet, since the movement of the plates would simply destroy it. The volcano is located in the province of Farsis (region of the planet's equator). Named for Mount Olympus in Greece, where, according to myths, the Olympian gods lived.
The height of Olympus is 26 km from the base, which is 2.5 times higher than the relative height of the Mauna Kea volcano, which is the highest volcano on Earth and rises 10.2 km from the base. The diameter of Olympus is about 540 km. The volcano has steep slopes along the edges up to 7 km high. The reasons for the formation of these giant cliffs have not yet found a convincing explanation, although many are inclined to the version of the erosion of the slopes of the volcano by the ocean that once existed on Mars.