Height of mountains on Earth vs Mars.

I remember seeing a program several years ago that tried to explain why
mountains on Mars(Olympus Mons)are higher than anything on Earth.The
main reason is gravity.The height and mass of a mountain or volcano can
only be so great without caving in on itself.Olympus Mons is an
extinct volcano with a very broad base allowing it to to reach its
height gradually.I found a good site showing Olympus Mons and giving a
better description.Bill.
http://sprite.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~astr.../ap970915.html

On [GMT+0100=CET],
Bill Duncan thought hard and spewed:

I remember seeing a program several years ago that tried to explain
why mountains on Mars(Olympus Mons)are higher than anything on
Earth.The main reason is gravity.The height and mass of a mountain or
volcano can only be so great without caving in on itself.Olympus
Mons is an extinct volcano with a very broad base allowing it to to
reach its height gradually.I found a good site showing Olympus Mons
and giving a better description.Bill.
http://sprite.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~astr.../ap970915.html

Exactly, the mass must narrow as it reaches ever higher to be supported by
the greater mass underneath, otherwise it would collapse, that's why we can
only build rectangular office towers only so high.

"Mason Verger" wrote in message
...
On [GMT+0100=CET],
Bill Duncan thought hard and spewed:

I remember seeing a program several years ago that tried to explain
why mountains on Mars(Olympus Mons)are higher than anything on
Earth.The main reason is gravity.The height and mass of a mountain or
volcano can only be so great without caving in on itself.Olympus
Mons is an extinct volcano with a very broad base allowing it to to
reach its height gradually.I found a good site showing Olympus Mons
and giving a better description.Bill.
http://sprite.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~astr.../ap970915.html

Exactly, the mass must narrow as it reaches ever higher to be supported by
the greater mass underneath, otherwise it would collapse, that's why we
can
only build rectangular office towers only so high.

Which has always made me think the shape of the pyramids was nothing
magical...it was an engineering limitation.

BV.

On [GMT+0100=CET],
BenignVanilla thought hard and spewed:

Which has always made me think the shape of the pyramids was nothing
magical...it was an engineering limitation.

BV.

Strength of materials my friends! Nice subject.

Bill that is why I posted that Mars lava rock is not crumbly because it
might have iron to strengthen its structure. When a volcano can create
a mountain(cone) 15 miles high,we have a lot to consider,such as no Mars
quacks. Solid crust(no muddy foundation) Here in Florida sand does not
make a bad foundation. True Florida has no earth quakes. It has no
mountains to test what weight its surface can hold up. Florida is so
flat that people that are afraid of height can't drive up a highway
overpass. That is why Florida has very few of them,and uses stop
signs,and railway gates Bert

Just to add some common sense to how solid Mars crust could be. Its
Volcanoes could have stopped erupting half a billion years ago. Its
crust could be solid for hundreds of miles down. Mars is a small
planet. Small planets cool fast,and Mars is far from the sun.
Ultraviolet radiation creates photolysis of water vapor. Thus you have
the break down of H20 molecule. On Mars having a low escape velocity
Hydrogen would be lost to space.. Even the earth can't hold
hydrogen(only very large planets can) Seems Mars low temperatures
might have snow,a mixture of water vapor,and carbon dioxide,and
precipitation(snow storm) could take place at the poles We do see
evidence of that. Bert

BenignVanilla wrote:

"Mason Verger" wrote in message
...

Exactly, the mass must narrow as it reaches ever higher to be supported by
the greater mass underneath, otherwise it would collapse, that's why we
can
only build rectangular office towers only so high.

Which has always made me think the shape of the pyramids was nothing
magical...it was an engineering limitation.

Both engineering and symbolic considerations may have been involved ...

The "Bent Pyramid" (at Daishur?) is good evidence for the
engineering-limitation hypothesis, though; it seems that partway
through its construction it was found to be to steep to remain
stable, so the slope of the upper part was made shallower than that
of the lower part.

--
Odysseus

Bill If you read it do you have to believe it ?. Can't you be smarter
than the thoughts of others? Are books smarter than us? If so Why?
Bert