South-west flank of the volcano Ascraeus Mons
South-west flank of the volcano Ascraeus Mons
Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and highest of the three volcanoes known as Tharsis Montes. With a diameter of approximately 480 kilometres and a height of 18 kilometres, it is the second highest mountain on Mars. The volcano is no longer active today. It has a very flat profile with an average slope of only seven degrees. This image shows part of the volcano's southern flank. The difference in elevation between the left side (south) and the right side (north) of the picture is about ten kilometres. The unusual terrain features shown here (to the right of the centre of the image) are known as Ascraeus Chasmata, which are collapsed former lava tubes. The image shows an area of about 300 kilometres by 75 kilometres. The Ascraeus Chasmata occupy an area of about 6000 square kilometres.
