List of extraterrestrial volcanoes

This is a list of active, dormant and extinct volcanoes located beyond planet Earth. They may be designated mons (mountain), patera (an irregular crater) or tholus (small mountain or hill) in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's rules for planetary nomenclature. Many of them are nameless.

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Io

See also: Volcanism on Io and List of volcanic features on Io

Animation of eruption from Tvashtar Paterae (Io), taken from imagery from the New Horizons probe in 2007

Lava flow at Tvashtar Paterae

Io, a moon of the planet Jupiter, is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its volcanoes are believed to eject sulfur or possibly sulfur dioxide.

Mars

See also: Volcanism on Mars and Category:Volcanoes of Mars

Mars has many shield volcanoes, including the largest known volcanoes of the Solar System, but they are all dormant.

Venus

See also: Volcanism on Venus and Category:Volcanoes of Venus

On Venus, volcanic features are very numerous and quite diverse, but, like Mars, no current volcanic activity is known for sure. These volcanoes range from several to several hundred kilometers in diameter; majority of them are shield volcanoes. In addition, Venus have unusual types of volcanoes: pancake domes and scalloped margin domes. Majority of small volcanoes on Venus are nameless.

The Moon

Due to low viscosity of usual lunar lava, it rarely created volcanic mountains. Instead of this, it flooded large areas, which became lunar maria. Some shield volcanoes also are known on the Moon; they are called lunar domes. Some areas of the Moon are covered with (usually dark) coating, which is interpreted as pyroclastic deposits. Sometimes they form a dark halo around rilles. See also:

• Lunar mare; see List of maria on the Moon
• Lunar dome
• Mons Rümker
• Mons Hansteen

Mercury

File:MESSENGER - BV Microsymposium49.jpg

Lava-flooded craters and large expanses of smooth volcanic plains on Mercury

Many of Mercury's basins contain smooth plains, like the lunar mare, that are believed likely to be filled with lava flows. Collapse structures possibly indicative of volcanism have been found in some craters. Eleven volcanic domes were identified in Mariner 10 images, including a 1.4-km high dome near the centre of Odin Planitia.

Other planets and moons

• Saturn's moon Enceladus has geysers that spew water which have been photographed erupting by NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft.
• Many on Triton, a moon of the planet Neptune, that are believed to eject liquid nitrogen, dust, or methane compounds.
• Reports from NASA's Cassini–Huygens mission suggest that Saturn's moon Titan may have volcanoes that eject water (cryovolcanoes).

See also

• Category:Extraterrestrial mountains
• Areography
• Lists of volcanoes

External links

• Extraterrestrial Volcanoes, Volcano World
• Solar System Volcanoes, Volcano Live