A fascinating look at extraterrestrial volcanoes in our Solar
System. The volcano - among the most familiar and perhaps the most
terrifying of all geological phenomena. However, Earth isn't the
only planet to harbour volcanoes. In fact, the Solar System, and
probably the entire Universe, is littered with them. Our own Moon,
which is now a dormant piece of rock, had lava flowing across its
surface billions of years ago, while Mars can be credited with the
largest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons, which stands
25km high. While Mars's volcanoes are long dead, volcanic activity
continues in almost every other corner of the Solar System, in the
most unexpected of locations. We tend to think of Earth volcanoes
as erupting hot, molten lava and emitting huge, billowing clouds of
incandescent ash. However, it isn't necessarily the same across the
rest of the Solar System. For a start, some volcanoes aren't even
particularly hot. Those on Pluto, for example, erupt an icy slush
of substances such as water, methane, nitrogen or ammonia, that
freeze to form ice mountains as hard as rock. While others, like
the volcanoes on one of Jupiter's moons, Io, erupt the hottest
lavas in the Solar System onto a surface covered in a frosty
coating of sulphur. Whether they are formed of fire or ice,
volcanoes are of huge importance for scientists trying to picture
the inner workings of a planet or moon. Volcanoes dredge up
materials from the otherwise inaccessible depths and helpfully
deliver them to the surface. The way in which they erupt, and the
products they generate, can even help scientists ponder bigger
questions on the possibility of life elsewhere in the Solar System.
Fire and Ice is an exploration of the Solar System's volcanoes,
from the highest peaks of Mars to the intensely inhospitable
surface of Venus and the red-hot summits of Io, to the coldest,
seemingly dormant icy carapaces of Enceladus and Europa, an unusual
look at how these cosmic features are made, and whether such active
planetary systems might host life.
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