You’ll be able to see the purpose the place lava broke via the wall of a Martian crater and started to fill it in
Basically, Mars is a volcanic planet. On its surface is the solar system’s largest extinct volcano, Olympus Mons, and another trio of well-known volcanoes in Tharsis Montes. And these are just the highlights: there are many other volcanoes on the surface. Although this volcanic activity ceased long ago, the surface of the planet tells the story of a world that was destroyed and shaped by powerful volcanic eruptions.
It’s hard to imagine what Mars would have been like when Olympus Mons was active. The same goes for the Tharsis Montes Trio. We may never know, but thanks to HiRISE we can try to piece together some of the volcanic events that shaped Mars.
Olympus Mons and Tharsis Montes were the headliners in Mars’ ancient volcanic drama, and we first found out about their existence, largely thanks to NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft. In fact, they were discovered long before by ground observers because they were visible as they towered over global dust storms. There are other indications of volcanism on the surface of Mars.
This Mariner 9 image from Ascraeus Mons is one of the first images to show that Mars has large volcanoes. Photo credit: Retrieved from NASA / JPL – JPL Photojournal, public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17133292
There are massive lava flows and extensive lava plains on the planet. In fact, around half of Mars’ surface is covered in volcanic material, although much of it has been further shaped by other processes over time. Most scientists believe that volcanic activity ended about 500 million years ago, while some believe the planet could still be somewhat active.
Recently the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) team published images of a crater on Mars that was shaped by ancient lava flows. The crater has a clearly visible channel through the rim into which lava flowed. A short video explains some of the events and some of the questions scientists have about this feature.
The volcanic drama that takes place in that one crater is just a tiny paragraph in the history of Martian volcanism. Martian volcanism stretched for billions of years, from the Noachian over 3.7 billion years ago to the present day, the Amazon. Volcanic activity on Mars may not have stopped until 500 million years ago. geographically not long.
Volcanic activity is at the heart of Mars. Mars and Earth are very similar in many geological aspects. They are both differentiated, which means that they are made up of different layers. Their cores are made of dense materials that sank to the center of the planets in their early, molten days, while lighter material stayed near the surface. The pair of planets were formed through many of the same magma-based processes.
Earth and Mars are both differentiated bodies, which means that they are made up of different layers of material with different densities. The denser material has sunk into the cores. However, we know much more about the interior of the Earth than we do about Mars. NASA’s InSight lander is currently on Mars, exploring the interior of the planet to learn more. Photo credit: Earth, left: Von Kelvinsong – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23966175. Mars, right: NASA
The difference lies in what happens after a magma eruption or a lava flow eruption. The earth has large lava formations that have flowed across the surface called Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs). The earth’s atmosphere and biosphere hide the evidence for these LIPs after some time. But ancient formations are still visible on Mars. Due to the inactivity of the planet, the evidence is somehow frozen.
Another view of the crater and the lava breach. Photo credit: NASA / JPL / UofA
In the past, both water and lava flowed over the surface of Mars. Both are gone now, but the evidence remains. Scientists may be able to sum up the history of Mars more completely, but for now it’s one crater at a time.
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