Emi Koussi is a high volcano that lies at the south end of the Tibesti Mountains in the central Sahara of northern Chad. It is the highest mountain in Chad, and the highest in the Sahara. The volcano is one of several in the Tibesti massif, and reaches 3415 m in altitude, rising 2.3 km above the surrounding sandstone plains. The volcano is 65 km wide.
Emi Koussi has been used as a close analog to the famous Martian volcano Elysium Mons . One of the most important morphological differences between volcanoes on Mars and Earth is the widespread furrowing of the surface due to flowing water on terrestrial volcanoes. The furrows are shallow valleys. Larger channels have a different origin. Major channels can be seen on volcanoes on both planets and indicate low points in caldera rims where lava spilled out of pre-collapse craters.
Original entry was from the NASA Earth Observatory; [1]
References
- Gourgaud A. and P. M. Vincent. 2004. Petrology of two continental alkaline intraplate series at Emi Koussi volcano, Tibesti, Chad. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 129(4): 261-290.
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