Scientists may have just discovered what causes the symptoms of in the near future active lava on Mars.
Beneath a broad plain called Elysium Planitia, the largest, 4,000-kilometer (about 2,500-mile) ridge of the Martian mantle may be driving molten lava above it. This would explain several lines of evidence that point to the mysterious explosion of Mars.
“Our results show that the interior of Mars is remarkably active today,” write planetary scientists Adrien Broquet and Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna of the University of Arizona, “and suggest that volcanic eruptions are driven by volcanic eruptions.” the Hesperian. and Tharsis is ancient to Elysium Planitia today.”
Mars has shown definite signs of dying in nature, both internally and externally. Its ancient location – it appears to have no recent volcanic eruptions and tectonic movements – and the absence of a global magnetic field have been put forward as reasons to think that there is a solid, immobile rock to the core.
Recent developments have seriously undermined the idea of a completely dead Mars. There was a meteorite from Mars that made its way to Earth that showed signs of mantle shaking recently about half a billion years ago For example.
Then satellite images revealed evidence of a 50,000-year-old volcanic eruption in a cave called Cerberus Fossae.
And Mars InSight, which has been monitoring the interior of Mars since November 2018, has revealed major events that are taking place that are associated with volcanic eruptions.
There have been a few other odd sightings. Elysium Planitia’s local gravity, for example, is incredibly strong, consistent with other subsurface features.
So Broquet and Andres Hanna gathered topographical, gravity, geological, and seismic data, and set out to find a model that fits them.
According to their analysis, bright clothing ticks all the boxes. These are the additions of hot internal materials that push the boundaries of the Earth’s core, forcing magma upwards and creating hot spots and volcanic eruptions.
To compare with observations – including seismic activity as detected by InSight – the crater would be 3,500 kilometers across, and would be between 95 and 285 Kelvin warmer than the surrounding area. That’s 95 to 285 degrees Celsius, or 171 to 513 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is very similar to the outer mantle on Earth that drove the volcanic activity before the eruption – the Deccan Traps and the North Atlantic Igneous Region.
“Although Mars is smaller than Earth, the formation of similar large heads is expected given the lower gravity and the higher thickness of the Martian mantle,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“The area with the best fit, based on gravity and topography, is in the center of Cerberus Fossae, where recent earthquakes and large aftershocks have occurred.”
This, the researchers say, means that Mars will be the third planet from the Sun with different missions, joining Earth and Venus.
It is a result that means interesting things about Mars. Maybe not the volcanoes spewing lava everywhere, but the internal heat that would keep the Martian oceans from dying. This has implications for the search for Martian life – tiny organisms that hide in such oceans, living their quiet lives away from human detection.
“Ongoing marine events show that Mars is not only convulsing and erupting today, but also has a geodynamic interior,” wrote Broquet and Andrews-Hanna.
“The branch under Elysium Planitia also shows that volcanic eruptions and seismic events do not occur spontaneously, but are part of a long, stable, regional life, which affects the longevity and astronomy of the subterranean environment.”
Research has been published in Nature Astronomy.
