An old, lone volcano standing apart from the Tharsis giants.
Apollinaris Mons is an ancient shield volcano rising about 5 km above the plains near the Martian equator. Standing alone south of Elysium and just north of Gusev crater, it is prized for its great age and a fan-shaped deposit that may record ancient water.
Claim your plot here →Apollinaris Mons is unusual among Martian volcanoes: rather than belonging to the towering, relatively young Tharsis cluster, it stands isolated and old near the equatorial highlands. Its broad summit caldera spans tens of kilometers, and its flanks are heavily eroded, marking it as one of the planet's more ancient volcanic centers.
On its southern flank lies a large fan deposit that scientists suspect was shaped by water, ice or explosive eruptions interacting with volatiles. Its position immediately north of Gusev crater — explored by the Spirit rover — makes it a valuable piece of the story of early, wetter Mars.
At ~5 km, Apollinaris is a fraction of Olympus Mons' 21.9 km — but far older, a relic from an earlier volcanic era.