List of tallest mountains in the Solar System

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Olympus Mons on Mars, the tallest planetary mountain in the Solar System, compared to Mount Everest and Mauna Kea on Earth (both elevations are sea-level-to-peak).

This is a list of the tallest mountains in the Solar System; in some cases, the tallest peaks of different classes on a world are also listed. At 21.9 km, the enormous shield volcano Olympus Mons on Mars is the tallest mountain on any planet. For 40 years, following its discovery in 1971, it was the tallest mountain known in the Solar System. However, in 2011, the central peak of the crater Rheasilvia on the asteroid and protoplanet Vesta was found to be of comparable height.[lower-alpha 1]

List

The heights are given as base-to-peak, because there is no nonarbitrary equivalent to height above sea level on other worlds.

World Tallest peak(s) Height % of radius[lower-alpha 2] Origin Notes
Mercury Caloris Montes ≤ 3 km (1.9 mi)[1][2] 0.12 impact[3] Formed by the Caloris impact
Venus Skadi Mons 6.4 km (4.0 mi) (approx.) [4] 0.11 tectonic[5] Has radar-bright slopes due to metallic Venus snow, possibly lead sulfide[6]
Maat Mons 4.9 km (3.0 mi) (approx.)[7] 0.081 volcanic[8] Highest volcano on Venus
Earth Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa 10.2 km (6.3 mi)[9] 0.16 volcanic Just 4.2 km (2.6 mi) of this is above sea level
Pico del Teide 7.5 km (4.7 mi)[10] 0.12 volcanic Rises 3.7 km above sea level[10]
Denali 5.3 to 5.9 km (3.3 to 3.7 mi)[11] 0.093 tectonic Tallest mountain base-to-peak on land[12][lower-alpha 3]
Mount Everest 3.6 to 4.6 km (2.2 to 2.9 mi)[13] 0.072 tectonic 4.6 km on north face, 3.6 km on south face.[lower-alpha 4]
Moon Mons Huygens 5.5 km (3.4 mi)[14][15] 0.32 impact Formed by the Imbrium impact
Mons Hadley 4.5 km (2.8 mi)[14][15] 0.26 impact Formed by the Imbrium impact
Mons Rümker 1.1 km (0.68 mi)[16] 0.063 volcanic Largest volcanic construct on the Moon[16]
Mars Olympus Mons 21.9 km (14 mi)[17][18] 0.65 volcanic Rises 26 km above northern plains,[19] 1000 km away.
Ascraeus Mons 14.9 km (9.3 mi)[17] 0.44 volcanic Tallest of the three Tharsis Montes
Elysium Mons 12.6 km (7.8 mi)[17] 0.37 volcanic Highest volcano in Elysium
Arsia Mons 11.7 km (7.3 mi)[17] 0.35 volcanic Summit caldera is 108 to 138 km (67 to 86 mi) across[17]
Pavonis Mons 8.4 km (5.2 mi)[17] 0.25 volcanic Summit caldera is 4.8 km (3.0 mi) deep[17]
Anseris Mons 6.2 km (3.9 mi)[20] 0.18 impact Among the highest nonvolcanic peaks on Mars, formed by the Hellas impact
Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp") 4.5 to 5.5 km (2.8 to 3.4 mi)[21][lower-alpha 5] 0.16 depositional[lower-alpha 6] Formed from deposits in Gale crater; to be ascended by the MSL rover[25]
Vesta Rheasilvia central peak 22 km (14 mi)[26][27] 8.4 impact See also List of largest craters in the Solar System
Ceres Ahuna Mons 4 km (2.5 mi)[28] 0.85 uncertain Isolated steep-sided dome in relatively smooth area
Io Boösaule Montes "South"[29] 17.5 to 18.2 km (10.9 to 11.3 mi)[30] 1.0 tectonic Has a 15 km (9 mi) high scarp on its SE margin[31]
Ionian Mons east ridge 12.7 km (7.9 mi) (approx.)[31][32] 0.70 tectonic Has the form of a curved double ridge
Euboea Montes 10.3 to 13.4 km (6.4 to 8.3 mi)[33] 0.74 tectonic A NW flank landslide left a 25,000 km3 debris apron[34][lower-alpha 7]
unnamed (245° W, 30° S) 2.5 km (1.6 mi) (approx.)[35][36] 0.14 volcanic One of the tallest of Io's many volcanoes, with an atypical conical form[36][lower-alpha 8]
Mimas Herschel central peak 7 km (4 mi) (approx.)[38] 3.5 impact <templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
See also: List of largest craters in the Solar System
Dione Janiculum Dorsa 1.5 km (0.9 mi)[39] 0.27 tectonic[lower-alpha 9] Surrounding crust depressed ca. 0.3 km.
Titan Mithrim Montes 3.3 km (2.1 mi)[41] 0.13 tectonic[41] May have formed due to global contraction[42]
Doom Mons 1.45 km (0.90 mi)[43] 0.056 cryovolcanic[43] Adjacent to Sotra Patera, a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) deep collapse feature[43]
Iapetus equatorial ridge 20 km (12 mi) (approx.)[44] 2.7 uncertain[lower-alpha 10] Individual peaks have not been measured
Oberon unnamed ("limb mountain") 11 km (7 mi) (approx.)[38] 1.4 impact (?) A value of 6 km was given shortly after the Voyager 2 encounter[48]
Pluto Piccard Mons[lower-alpha 11][49][50] ~5.6 km (3.5 mi)[51] 0.47 cryovolcanic (?) ~220 km across[51]
Wright Mons[lower-alpha 11][49][50] ~4.0 km (2.5 mi)[49] 0.34 cryovolcanic (?) ~160 km across;[49] summit depression ~56 km across[52]
Norgay Montes[lower-alpha 11][53] ≤ 3.5 km (2.2 mi)[54] 0.30 tectonic[54] (?) Composed of water ice;[54] named after Tenzing Norgay[55]

Gallery

The following images are shown in order of decreasing base-to-peak height.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Olympus Mons, however, is a much broader peak; its diameter exceeds that of Vesta itself.
  2. ↑ 100 x ratio of peak height to radius of the parent world
  3. ↑ On p. 20 of Helman (2005): "the base to peak rise of Mount McKinley is the largest of any mountain that lies entirely above sea level, some 18000 feet"
  4. ↑ Peak is 8.8 km (5.5 mi) above sea level, and over 13 km (8.1 mi) above the oceanic abyssal plain.
  5. ↑ About 5.25 km high from the perspective of the landing site of Curiosity.[22]
  6. ↑ A crater central peak may sit below the mound of sediment. If that sediment was deposited while the crater was flooded, the crater may have once been entirely filled before erosional processes gained the upper hand.[21] However, if the deposition was due to katabatic winds, as suggested by reported 3 degree radial slopes of the mound's layers, the role of erosion would have been to place an upper limit on the mound's growth.[23][24]
  7. ↑ Among the Solar System's largest[34]
  8. ↑ Some of Io's paterae are surrounded by radial patterns of lava flows, indicating they are on a topographic high point, making them shield volcanoes. Most of these volcanoes exhibit relief of less than 1 km. A few have more relief; Ruwa Patera rises 2.5 to 3 km over its 300 km width. However, its slopes are only on the order of a degree.[37] A handful of Io's smaller shield volcanoes have steeper, conical profiles; the example listed is 60 km across and has slopes averaging 4° and reaching 6-7° approaching the small summit depression.[37]
  9. ↑ Was apparently formed via contraction.[40]
  10. ↑ Hypotheses of origin include crustal readjustment associated with a decrease in oblateness due to tidal locking,[45][46] and deposition of deorbiting material from a former ring around the moon.[47]
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Name not yet approved by the IAU
  12. ↑ A linearized wide-angle hazcam image that makes the mountain look steeper than it actually is. The highest peak is not visible in this view.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Mount Everest (1:50,000 scale map), prepared under the direction of Bradford Washburn for the Boston Museum of Science, the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, and the National Geographic Society, 1991, ISBN 3-85515-105-9
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Carr, M.H., 2006, The Surface of Mars, Cambridge, 307 p.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ JMARS MOLA elevation dataset. Christensen, P.; Gorelick, N.; Anwar, S.; Dickenshied, S.; Edwards, C.; Engle, E. (2007) "New Insights About Mars From the Creation and Analysis of Mars Global Datasets;" American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, abstract #P11E-01.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 54.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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