Main Results:
1) From our data we concluded that Arsia Mons may be slightly older than Olympus Mons due to the fact that its lava flows contained more destroyed craters. We did not feel however that there was a huge gap between the two. This could mean that they are roughly the same age.
2) Though these volcanoes are fairly close to each other on the surface of Mars, we feel that another factor to consider is that Arsia Mons’ lava flows may not be as prone to impacts as Olympus Mons. In our data we had around 300 more craters present on Olympus Mons lava flows than in the images of Arsia Mons. If this idea is correct this could have an impact on the way that we perceive our current data. Yes, Arsia Mons had more destroyed craters, but could that in part be due to only looking at a small portion of the total craters on Olympus Mons’ lava flows in comparison?
3) We have also concluded that the frequency to which the volcano erupts could have an impact on our findings. If Arsia Mons erupted 500 years ago while Olympus Mons erupted 300 years ago that does not necessarily mean that Arsia Mons is older. Only that particular lava flow may be older.
Final Report
