New discovery suggests Mars is not dead, but merely sleeping
Satellite image showing the recent volcanic deposit around a fissure in the Cerberus Fossae system
Photo by Nasa/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Scientists at the University of Arizona’s (UArizona’s) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and at the Tucson, Arizona, based Planetary Science Institute (PSI), in the US, have discovered evidence showing recent volcanic activity on Mars, hitherto largely conceived of as a dead planet. Studying imagery from spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet, they found the evidence around a fissure in what is known as the Cerberus Fossae system, in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars.
Most volcanic activity on Mars occurred three- to four-billion years ago, although smaller, isolated, eruptions continued until perhaps only three-million years ago. But this newly discovered volcanic activity could have taken place within the last 50 000 years, which is an insignificant time in geological terms.
“This [newly discovered] feature overlies the surrounding lava flows and appears to be a relatively fresh and thin deposit of ash and rock, representing a different style of eruption than previously identified pyroclastic features,” reported PSI research scientist and study lead author David Horvath, who undertook the study as a postdoctoral researcher at UArizona. “This eruption could have spewed ash as high as six miles [almost 9.7 km] into Mars’ atmosphere.”
Most vulcanism hitherto observed on the Red Planet took the form of lava flows across the planet’s surface. Although there were explosive eruptions, these occurred in the far distant past. A pyroclastic eruption sees magma driven by very rapidly expanding gases. On Earth, this is the most terrifying form of eruption, because the magma and gases form lethal clouds that are almost frictionless and move with incredible speed, engulfing all before them.
“The young age of this deposit absolutely raises the possibility that there could still be volcanic activity on Mars,” he affirmed. Separately, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s InSight Mars lander, which has been observing Martian seismic activity since 2018, has detected two ‘Marsquakes’ originating in the region of Cerberus Fossae. Recent analysis has proposed that these were caused by magma movements deep below the surface. “[I]t is intriguing that recent Marsquakes detected by the InSight mission are sourced from the Cerberus Fossae,” he noted.
The discovery also has major implications for the question of life on Mars. “The interaction of ascending magma and the icy substrate of this region could have provided favourable conditions for microbial life fairly recently and raises the possibility of extant life in this region,” he highlighted.
“This may be the most recent volcanic eruption on Mars, but I think we can rest assured that it won’t be the last,” predicted study co-author Jeff Andrews-Hanna. “All these data seem to be telling the same story. Mars isn’t dead.”
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