Mars’ Tharsis Volcanoes Broke Crust

On Mars, the Tharsis region hosts some of the largest volcanoes in the Solar System, including three massive shield volcanoes that formed in the same area. Because Mars lacks plate tectonics, the crust never moved over the volcanic hotspot the way Earth’s plates do. As a result, the volcanoes kept erupting in the same location for billions of years and piled up enormous layers of lava. The buildup became so massive that the weight eventually caused the Martian crust in the region to structurally deform and partially fail.

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