List of tallest mountains in the Solar System

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Olympus Mons, the tallest planetary mountain in the Solar System, compared to Mount Everest and Mauna Kea on Earth (heights shown are above datum or sea level, which differ from the base-to-peak heights given in the list).

This is a list of the tallest mountains in the Solar System. This list includes peaks on all

celestial bodies where significant mountains have been detected. For some celestial bodies, different peaks are given across different types of measurement. The solar system's tallest mountain is possibly the Olympus Mons on Mars with an altitude of 21.9 to 26 km. The central peak of Rheasilvia on the asteroid Vesta
is also a candidate to be the tallest, with an estimated at up to between 20 and 25 km from peak to base.

List

Heights are given from base to peak (although a precise definition for mean base level is lacking). Peak elevations above

reference ellipsoid
could be used if enough data is available for the calculation, but this is often not the case.

Planet Tallest peak(s) Base-to-peak height % of radius[n 1] Origin Notes
Mercury Caloris Montes ≤ 3 km (1.9 mi)[2][3] 0.12 impact[4] Formed by the
Caloris impact
Venus Skadi Mons (Maxwell Montes massif) 6.4 km (4.0 mi)[5] (11 km above mean) 0.11 tectonic[6] Has radar-bright slopes due to metallic Venus snow, possibly lead sulfide[7]
Maat Mons 4.9 km (3.0 mi) (approx.)[8] 0.081 volcanic[9] Highest volcano on Venus
Earth[n 2]
 Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa 10.2 km (6.3 mi)[11] 0.16 volcanic 4.2 km (2.6 mi) of this is above sea level
Haleakalā 9.1 km (5.7 mi)[12] 0.14 volcanic Rises 3.1 km above sea level[12]
Pico del Teide 7.5 km (4.7 mi)[13] 0.12 volcanic Rises 3.7 km above sea level[13]
Denali 5.3 to 5.9 km (3.3 to 3.7 mi)[14] 0.093 tectonic Tallest mountain base-to-peak on land[15][n 3]
Mount Everest 3.6 to 4.6 km (2.2 to 2.9 mi)[16] 0.072 tectonic 4.6 km on north face, 3.6 km on south face;
prominence (but not among the tallest from base to peak, and in distance to Earth's center Mt Chimborazo
rises highest).
Moon[n 5]
 Mons Huygens 5.5 km (3.4 mi)[19][20] 0.32 impact Formed by the
prominence, which would be Selenean summit
.
Mons Hadley 4.5 km (2.8 mi)[19][20] 0.26 impact Formed by the Imbrium impact
Mons Rümker 1.3 km (0.81 mi)[21] 0.063 volcanic Largest volcanic construct on the Moon[21]
Mars
 		Olympus Mons 21.9–26 km (13.6–16.2 mi; 72,000–85,000 ft)[n 6][22][23][24] 0.65 volcanic Tallest mountain in the
prominence) 1000 km away. Summit calderas are 60 x 80 km wide, up to 3.2 km deep;[24] scarp around margin is up to 8 km high.[26] A shield volcano, the mean flank slope is a modest 5.2 degrees.[23]
Ascraeus Mons 14.9 km (9.3 mi)[23] 0.44 volcanic Tallest of the three Tharsis Montes
Elysium Mons 12.6 km (7.8 mi)[23] 0.37 volcanic Highest volcano in Elysium
Arsia Mons 11.7 km (7.3 mi)[23] 0.35 volcanic Summit caldera is 108 to 138 km (67 to 86 mi) across[23]
Pavonis Mons 8.4 km (5.2 mi)[23] 0.25 volcanic Summit caldera is 4.8 km (3.0 mi) deep[23]
Anseris Mons 6.2 km (3.9 mi)[27] 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)[28][n 7] 0.16 deposition and erosion[n 8] Formed from deposits in Gale crater;[33] the MSL rover has been ascending it since November 2014.[34]
Vesta Rheasilvia central peak 20–25 km (12–16 mi; 66,000–82,000 ft)[n 9][35][36] 8.4 impact Almost 200 km (120 mi) wide. See also: List of largest craters in the Solar System
Ceres Ahuna Mons 4 km (2.5 mi)[37] 0.85
cryovolcanic[38]
 Isolated steep-sided dome in relatively smooth area; max. height of ~ 5 km on steepest side; roughly antipodal to largest impact basin on Ceres
Io Boösaule Montes "South"[39] 17.5 to 18.2 km (10.9 to 11.3 mi)[40] 1.0 tectonic Has a 15 km (9 mi) high scarp on its SE margin[41]
Ionian Mons east ridge 12.7 km (7.9 mi) (approx.)[41][42] 0.70 tectonic Has the form of a curved double ridge
Euboea Montes 10.5 to 13.4 km (6.5 to 8.3 mi)[43] 0.74 tectonic A NW flank landslide left a 25,000 km3 debris apron[44][n 10]
unnamed (245° W, 30° S) 2.5 km (1.6 mi) (approx.)[45][46] 0.14 volcanic One of the tallest of Io's many volcanoes, with an atypical conical form[46][n 11]
Mimas
 		Herschel central peak 7 km (4 mi) (approx.)[48] 3.5 impact See also: List of largest craters in the Solar System
Dione Janiculum Dorsa 1.5 km (0.9 mi)[49] 0.27 tectonic[n 12] Surrounding crust depressed ca. 0.3 km.
Titan Mithrim Montes ≤ 3.3 km (2.1 mi)[52] 0.13 tectonic[52] May have formed due to global contraction[53]
Doom Mons 1.45 km (0.90 mi)[54] 0.056
cryovolcanic[54]
 Adjacent to Sotra Patera, a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) deep collapse feature[54]
Iapetus equatorial ridge 20 km (12 mi) (approx.)[55] 2.7 uncertain[n 13] Individual peaks have not been measured
Oberon unnamed ("limb mountain") 11 km (7 mi) (approx.)[48] 1.4 impact (?) A value of 6 km was given shortly after the Voyager 2 encounter[59]
Pluto Tenzing Montes, peak "T2" ~6.2 km (3.9 mi)[60] 0.52
tectonic[61]
(?) 		Composed of water ice;[61] named after Tenzing Norgay[62]
Piccard Mons[63][64]
 ~5.5 km (3.4 mi)[60] 0.46
cryovolcanic
(?) 		~220 km across;[65] central depression is 11 km deep[60]
Wright Mons[63][64] ~4.7 km (2.9 mi)[60] 0.40
cryovolcanic
(?) 		~160 km across;[63] summit depression ~56 km across[66] and 4.5 km deep[60]
Charon Butler Mons[67] ≥ 4.5 km (2.8 mi)[67] 0.74
tectonic
(?)
Vulcan Planitia, the southern plains, has several isolated peaks, possibly tilted crustal blocks[67]
Dorothy central peak[67] ~4.0 km (2.5 mi)[67] 0.66 impact North polar impact basin Dorothy, Charon's largest, is ~240 km across and 6 km deep[67]
2002 MS4
 		unnamed 20–29 km (12–18 mi) 6.3 ? Discovered by
stellar occultation; it is unclear whether this feature may be a genuine topographic peak or a transiting/occulting satellite.[68]

Tallest mountains by elevation

Gallery

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

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 100 × ratio of peak height to radius of the parent world
  2. ^ On Earth, mountain heights are constrained by glaciation; peaks are usually limited to elevations not more than 1500 m above the snow line (which varies with latitude). Exceptions to this trend tend to be rapidly forming volcanoes.[10]
  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 18,000 ft (5,500 m)"
  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. ^ Prominences in crater rims are not typically viewed as peaks and have not been listed here. A notable example is an (officially) unnamed massif on the rim of the farside crater Zeeman that rises about 4.0 km above adjacent parts of the rim and about 7.57 km above the crater floor.[17] The formation of the massif does not appear to be explainable simply on the basis of the impact event.[18]
  6. ^ Due to limitations in the accuracy of the measurements and the lack of a precise definition of "base", it is difficult to say whether this peak or the central peak of Vesta's crater Rheasilvia is the tallest mountain in the Solar System.
  7. ^ About 5.25 km (3.26 mi) high from the perspective of the landing site of Curiosity.[29]
  8. ^ 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.[28] However, if the deposition was due to katabatic winds that descend the crater walls, 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.[30][31] Gravity measurements by Curiosity suggest the crater was never buried by sediment, consistent with the latter scenario.[32]
  9. ^ Due to limitations in the accuracy of the measurements and the lack of a precise definition of "base", it is difficult to say whether this peak or the volcano Olympus Mons on Mars is the tallest mountain in the Solar System.
  10. ^ Among the Solar System's largest[44]
  11. 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.[47] 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.[47]
  12. ^ Was apparently formed via contraction.[50][51]
  13. ring around the moon.[58]
  14. ^ 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.

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