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SCIENCE

The Claim

Over the last century, scientists have recorded five eruptions of Olympus Mons with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The claim is not supported by any credible evidence. No eruption of Olympus Mons has been recorded in the last century, and authoritative Mars sources do not list five events or assign VEI 8 ratings there. The statement also conflates Olympus Mons with separate research on ancient explosive volcanism elsewhere on Mars.

Caveats

  • No modern eruption has been directly observed on Mars, so claims of last-century recorded Olympus Mons eruptions are unsupported.
  • VEI 8 is an extreme explosive classification; Olympus Mons is chiefly known as a shield volcano with largely effusive behavior.
  • Research on ancient large Martian eruptions applies to other regions such as Arabia Terra, not to five recent Olympus Mons events.

The Receipts

  1. Recent and episodic volcanic and glacial activity on Mars revealed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera

    PubMed / Nature

  2. Volcanoes

    Mars Education - Arizona State University

  3. Olympus Mons

    Smithsonian Institution / Global Volcanism Program

  4. Olympus Mons

    NASA

  5. Mars Express science highlights: #5. Recent and episodic volcanism

    ESA (European Space Agency)

  6. Geologic maps of the Olympus Mons region of Mars

    USGS

  7. olympus mons volcano: Topics by Science.gov

    Science.gov (U.S. government science portal)

  8. FAQ: Olympus Mons and Mars volcanoes

    NASA

  9. Recent volcanism on Mars enhanced by deep mantle plume

    Nature

  10. NASA Confirms Thousands of Massive, Ancient Volcanic Eruptions on Mars

    NASA

+ 9 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Olympus MonsVolcanic Explosivity Index

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