Elysium Volcanic Province
A smaller volcanic center lies several thousand kilometers west of Tharsis in Elysium. The Elysium volcanic complex is about 2,000 kilometers in diameter and consists of three main volcanoes, Elysium Mons, Hecates Tholus, and Albor Tholus. The northwestern edge of the province is characterized by large channels (Granicus and Tinjar Valles) that emerge from several grabens on the flanks of Elysium Mons. The grabens may have formed from subsurface dikes. The dikes may have fractured the cryosphere, releasing large volumes of ground water to form the channels. Associated with the channels are widespread sedimentary deposits that may have formed from mudflows or lahars. The Elysium group of volcanoes is thought to be somewhat different than the Tharsis Montes, in that development of the former involved both lavas and pyroclastics.
Elysium Mons is the largest volcanic edifice in the province. It is 375 km across (depending on how one defines the base) and 14 km high. It has single, simple caldera at its summit that measures 14 km wide and 100 m deep. The volcano is distinctly conical in profile, leading some to call it a stratocone; however, given the predominantly low slopes, it is probably a shield. Elysium Mons is only about one-fifth the volume of Arsia Mons.
Hecates Tholus is 180 km across and 4.8 km high. The slopes of the volcano are heavily dissected with channels, suggesting that the volcano is composed of easily erodible material such as volcanic ash. The origin of the channels is unknown; they have been atrributed to lava, ash flows, or even water from snow or rainfall. Albor Tholus, the southern-most of the Elysium volcanoes, is 150 km in diameter and 4.1 km high. Its slopes are smoother and less heavily cratered than the slopes of the other Elysium volcanoes.
Read more about this topic: Volcanism On Mars
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