Volcanism in the Solar System

This volume is the first in a series intended to introduce the concept of comparative planetology to geoscientists who, to date, have only considered processes on a single world. The following chapters describe igneous processes throughout the Solar System. Herein, we define a volcano as an area on the surface of solid planetary body (a planet, a moon, an asteroid) where material from the interior (as a liquid, solid, or gas) comes to the body’s surface. This definition allows us to examine the full range of volcanic behavior in the Solar System, and does not depend on a specific magma composition or precise mechanisms of eruption and emplacement.