Slashdot Mirror
Mars Volcanoes May Still Erupt
Q3vi1 writes "Space. com reports, Images from a European space probe reveal recent glacial deposits and lava flows on Mars that suggest the red planet is more active than many scientists had thought."
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
Volcanic eruptions have happened in the last 4 million years....
:)
That's only about 15 iterations "emerge kde" on my gentoo laptop
If it's as recent as 4 million years that would put to bed the dead Mars theory. The idea that Mars lacks a molten core. If there was magma that recently there would still be a molten core. It would take hundreds of millions if not billions of years to go from volcanic to a cold core. There would almost have to be liquid underground water. Good news for life and also water for explorers.
Well, we have only been closely looking at mars for (in an astronomical sense) a fraction of a second. Just because there hasn't been any evidence of eruption yet doesn't really mean anything.
Mars does have a molten core, according to JPL. Strikingly similar to both earth, and venus. Interesting stuff, none the less.
Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
1.The Great Machine has awakened and is starting the terraforming process.
2.Didn't you folks play Doom3? Hello Hellgate.
Mars isn't as massive as Earth. Hence a weaker gravitational field. More of what the volcanoes spew out would escape into space under Martian as opposed to Terran gravity. You still might have a thick enough atmosphere to support something though.
The question is rather, is the spirit stoned?
OR
is the spirit just stuck?
OR
Has there been to much to drink?
I thought Venus was still active? http://www.nineplanets.org/venus.html " Data from Magellan's imaging radar shows that much of the surface of Venus is covered by lava flows. There are several large shield volcanoes (similar to Hawaii or Olympus Mons) such as Sif Mons (right). Recently announced findings indicate that Venus is still volcanically active, but only in a few hot spots; for the most part it has been geologically rather quiet for the past few hundred million years."
Also, geothermal energy is a great resource to have when colonizing planets. Io and Europa are not as exciting prospects for colonoization, for a number of reason, as Mars is.
stuff
If you know you are not interested, why do you desire an explanation?
For those who *are* interested, this can have any of several significance. According to an installment of NOVA on PBS called "Origions", a popular theory of planatary evolution holds that a hot molten interior in an inner planet such as Earth is responsible for creating the planetary magnetic field that shields the planet from the abrasive effects of the solar wind. Without this magnetic shield, the sun's radiation strips away the planet's atmosphere and other volatile compounds such as water. It was thought that Mars, being smaller than Earth, had a core that cooled and solidified more quickly and lost it's magnetic field early in it's life. With not magnetic field to shield it's surface, the atmosphere thinned and water became scarce.
If Mars happens to be more geologically active than we once thought, another theory will be needed to account for the signs of a wetter martian past. Quite possibly, we need to reevaulate the level of protection offered by the molten core of our own Earth against the erosive effects of the solar wind.
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
Mars Volcanoes May Still Erupt
so beware when u play doom3 !
fifteen jugglers, five believers
I'll hazard a guess; if the lava on the Big Island of Hawai'i was looked at from a great height then it too would look smooth. On the other hand, lava from Etna or Mt St Helen's wouldn't. The difference is between basic (Hawai'ia) and acidic (Etna) lava, or perhaps the ammount of water (of course, these two may be highly correlated). On Mars, the lack of plate tectonics means that little surface material (inc. water) is pushed back into the mantle (c.f. Etna) and only 'pure' mantle material errupts (c.f. Hawai'i). Into a thin atmosphere, which allows dissolved gasses to leave more rapidly, the erruption would tend to be quite gentle and lower (Martian) gravity means it can spread over larger areas than on Earth.
Result is wide smooth basalt flows.
(but I only ever did Geology in 1st year undergrad---1A NatSci---so this might be incorrect).
-- Thus conscience does make cowards of us all - Hamlet
Actually, they look much like certain lava flows on earth. Here's the URL of a primer on vulcanism with some examples:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/types.html
Mars igneous rocks are mafic -- rich in iron and magnesium, low in silica and volatiles (e.g. water). Mafic magmas are low viscosity and have a better chance of reaching the surface in a liquid state. Since they are also low in water, they don't explode.
On earth, we also have big sheets of mafic lava flows -- the Deccan Traps in India, Watchung Mountains in New Jersey, Grand Mesa in Colorado just to name a few.