Clouds hover over the volcano peaks of the Tharsis region in this color mosaic image. Olympus Mons dominates at upper left. At center are the three Tharsis Montes: Arsia Mons at bottom, Pavonis Mons at center; and Ascraeus Mons at top. Image Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Tharsis region on Mars is an enormous volcanic upland located on Mars' equator, at the western end of Valles Marineris. Download high resolution version (768x640, 58 KB)Tharsis region on Mars; http://photojournal. ... Download high resolution version (768x640, 58 KB)Tharsis region on Mars; http://photojournal. ... Tharsis Montes is a set of mountains on Mars. ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Valles Marineris cuts a wide swath across the face of Mars Valles Marineris (Latin for Mariner Valley, named after the Mariner 9 Mars orbiter of 1971-72 which discovered it. ...

It contains the Tharsis Bulge, on which some of the solar system's largest volcanos are located. Olympus Mons formed by a mantle plume over a period of about a hundred million years during the Noachian epoch. In astronomy, a bulge is a huge, tightly packed group of stars. ... Smoking Bromo and Semeru (background) volcanoes on Java in Indonesia. ... Olympus Mons Olympus Mons (Latin, Mount Olympus) is the tallest known mountain in our solar system, located on the planet Mars at approximately . ... A mantle plume is an upwelling of molten rock within the Earths (or another planets) mantle. ... The Martian geologic timescale has three broad epochs defined by the number of impact craters on the surface; older surfaces have more craters. ...

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 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 and water vapor that could have been outgassed by Tharsis magma 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 carbon dioxide atmosphere and a global layer of water that averaged 120 meters thick. Arabia Terra is large upland region in the north of Mars. ... Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ... Impact of a drop of water. ... Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other rocky planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ... The bar (symbol bar) and the millibar (symbol mbar, also mb) are units of pressure. ...

Alba Patera is a unique volcanic feature to the north of the Tharsis region. Alba Patera is a unique volcanic feature to the north of the Tharsis region of Mars, an enormous shield volcano roughly 1600 kilometers in diameter but only ~3 kilometers tall at its highest point. ...

Tharsis in popular culture

A destroyer named Tharsis is referred to in the Halo series of games and novels. It was destroyed in the Battle of Reach. USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer (French: contre-torpilleur, German: Zerstörer, Spanish: destructor, Italian: cacciatorpediniere) is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers... Halos protagonist, the Master Chief, in Halo: Combat Evolved. ...

The last missions of the computer game Chaser take place in a subterranean complex inside the Tharsis bulge. A chaser can be: Somebody who chases somebody A player in the fictional Harry Potter sport Quidditch The anti-hangover pill Chaser (tablet) A usually non-alcoholic drink consumed immediately after drinking a potent liquor, to dull the harsh taste of alcohol. ...

See also

• Areography

Areography is the study of the features of the planet Mars such as landforms, climates, weather patterns, relic zones conserving possible lifeforms or their fossils, and also the physical processes that create and modify these features, and the spatial patterns among them. ...

External links

• NASA image and animation of the Tharsis region in true colour
• Researchers pinpoint region responsible for Mars' heyday

For the Roman god, see Mars (mythology). ...