10 Amazing Volcanoes In The Solar System

Explore these violent openings into the inner workings and origins of the planets and their moons

- James Romero

Every time we have visited a new world in our Solar System we have been surprised. While century-old predictions of Venusian rainforests or canal-building Martian civilisations proved off the mark, the age of space exploration has revealed life, in a geological sense, is ubiquitous. Volcanism, the upwelling and outpouring of inner planetary material, whether water, rock or mud, appears to be a fundamental process shaping every solid body we have visited.

For this volcanic tour, we not only travel from the inner to the outer Solar System, but also dive into the interior of planets and moons. Volcanoes are windows into the inner workings of Solar System worlds, revealing the story of their formation and signalling what their future might hold. And when that interior contains potentially habitable oceans, as are thought to exist within a few of our icy moons, volcanism might even provide the first signs of life on – or rather inside – another world.

Maat Mons

Location: Venus

Height: Eight kilometres (five miles)

Active: Maybe

The highest volcano on the Venusian surface, Maat Mons confounded expectations. It was thought the surface pressure on Venus would prevent the formation of such steep-sided slopes. However, recent models suggest that a sufficiently viscous Venusian lava can explain Maat Mons, as well as other cone-shaped formations. In fact, the surface pressure may contribute to their formation, stopping erupted material dispersing too far from the vent.