Arsia Mons

Today's VIS image is located on the northeastern flank of Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanoes. It is 450 km (270 miles) in diameter, almost 20 km (12 miles) high, and the summit caldera is 120 km (72 miles) wide. For comparison, the tallest volcano on Earth is Mauna Kea. From its base on the sea floor, Mauna Kea measures only 10.2 km tall (6.2 miles).

The three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes are Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascreaus Mons (from south to north). There are collapse features on all three volcanoes, on the southwestern and northeastern flanks. This alignment may indicate a large fracture/vent system was responsible for the eruptions that formed all three volcanoes.