Volcanic eruptions are not a major threat to Mars’ landscape, but an area the size of Alaska may have been covered in lava a million years ago. For more information on the survey results, please visit The research was conducted on December 15th. Geophysical Research Journal: Planets They found that the presence of large cracks may have caused large-scale flooding. A reaction between lava and flood water may have created an environment that could support life.
[Related: Giant quake that shook Mars for hours had a surprising source.]
A geologically “dead” planet?
The Earth is home to highly active plate tectonics, and these constantly stirring masses of crust change the Earth’s surface. Mars has long been considered a geologically “dead” planet because it lacks plate tectonics and has no observed volcanic activity. However, some recent discoveries cast doubt on the idea that Mars has always been in this state. Evidence of a huge mantle plume beneath the Elysium Plains region It was once behind intense seismic and volcanic activity in the planet’s relatively recent past. Elysium Planitia is the youngest landform on Mars, so studying it will help scientists better understand its past, including hydrological and volcanic phenomena.
In this new researchA team from the University of Arizona and the University of Alaska Fairbanks combined images taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Rover with ground-penetrating radar measurements to recreate 3D models of individual lava flows whose signatures could be detected on Elysium Planitia. did. This research uncovered more than 40 volcanic events in Earth’s recent past. One of the largest flows may have filled a Martian valley called Athabasca Canyon with nearly 1,000 cubic miles of basalt.
“Elysium Planitia is much more volcanically active than previously thought, and may even be volcanically active today,” says study co-author Joanna Vogt, a planetary geologist. stated in a statement. Voight completed this research as part of his doctoral program at the University of Arizona and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.
Mars earthquakes recorded by NASA’s InSight lander between 2018 and 2022 also provided the team with further evidence that Mars is not all that dead just below the surface.
“Our study provides the most comprehensive explanation of geologically recent volcanic activity on a planet other than Earth,” says study co-author Christopher Hamilton, a planetary geologist at the University of Arizona. stated in a statement. “This is the best estimate of young volcanic activity on Mars over the past roughly 120 million years, which corresponds to the period when dinosaurs roamed the Earth from their heyday to the present day.”
What steam means for finding evidence of life
These findings will influence future research into whether life existed on Mars at some point in its history.There are traces of Elysium Planitia. several major floods And the interaction of erupting lava with floodwaters and ice likely shaped the landscape in dramatic ways. The research team found evidence of phreatic explosions across Elysium Plains. Astrobiologists are interested in this type of interaction because it may have created a hydrothermal environment suitable for microbial survival.
To find out more, the team used images taken by the Context Camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, as well as other images from the orbiter’s HiRISE camera in selected areas. They also used data records from the Mars Orbiter laser altimeter aboard NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor. He then combined the images with survey data taken by NASA’s SHARAD spacecraft.
[Related: Mars rover snaps pics of dusty craters that may have once roared with water.]
“With SARAD, we were able to look as deep as 460 feet below the surface,” Vogt said. “Combining the datasets gives him a three-dimensional view of the study area, including what the topography looked like before lava erupted from multiple fissures and filled basins and channels previously carved out by running water. We were able to rebuild it.”
This detailed reconstruction of Mars’ geological features gives scientists a glimpse into the processes that shaped Mars’ past. Understanding the relationship between a planet’s volcanoes and its crust is key to reconstructing the planet’s paleoenvironmental conditions. In addition to the water in the magma being blown into the Martian atmosphere and freezing on the surface, eruptions can also release large amounts of groundwater to the surface.
The research team plans to continue using the complex datasets obtained with a variety of imaging techniques to build more detailed insights into the surface of Mars and what lies beneath.
Voigt said the surface of a lava flow is “like an open book that, if you know how to read, can provide a wealth of information about how the surface of a lava flow formed.” I think these areas that were once considered featureless and boring, like Elysium Planitia, contain many secrets, and they want to be read. ”