 Topography map of Apollinaris Mons | |
| Feature type | Shield volcano |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 9°18′S174°24′E / 9.3°S 174.4°E /-9.3; 174.4[1] |
Apollinaris Mons is an ancientshield volcano in the southern hemisphere ofMars. It is situated near theequator, south ofElysium Planitia and north of theimpact craterGusev (the landing site of theMars roverSpirit). Elysium Planitia separates it from the volcanic province ofElysium to its northwest. Thevolcano's caldera is namedApollinaris Patera;[2] this name formerly applied to the whole edifice.
Apollinaris Mons is about 5 kilometres high with a base about 296 kilometres in diameter.[3][better source needed] On the top of this volcano is a caldera about 80 km (50 miles) in diameter. The volcano is approximately 3 billion[4] to 3.5 billion years old.[5]
It was named in 1973 after a mountain spring nearRome inItaly.[citation needed]
A study using a global climate model found that theMedusae Fossae Formation could have been formed from ash from Apollinaris Mons,Arsia Mons, and possiblyPavonis Mons.[6]
Apollinaris Patera parallels many of the volcanic terrains on Mars, including most of the Elysium andTharsis Rises, in that they are demagnetized terrains that conspicuously predate the shutdown of the Martiandynamo. The mechanism of its deactivation has been compared to that ofHadriacus Mons. Researchers observing this noted that the deposition of lavas atop an older, more magnetized terrain might have led to the region's demagnetization. Its existence thus does not challenge hypotheses about the timing of the dynamo shutdown.[7]
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