Lava/ice eruptions on Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 1, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled by the science team as showing “possible lava-ice interaction,” the photo features some pimply-looking mounds that, though round like craters, sit above the surrounding landscape like small volcanoes.
That these are likely not ancient pedestal impact craters that now sit higher because their material is packed and can resist erosion is illustrated by the bridge-like mound in the lower right. This mound was likely once solid, but its north and south sections have disappeared, either by erosion or sublimation. If formed by an impact the mound would have had a depression in its top center, and would have only eroded outside the rim.
As always the location explains much. The yellow dot on the overview map to the right marks this location, just above 30 degrees latitude in the icy northern lowland plains of Mars.
At this latitude there is much near-surface ice. Moreover, Olympus Mons 800 miles to the southwest as well as the vast volcanic flood plains to the south that appear to flood this region as well suggest lots of volcanic processes here. Both explain why the scientists believe we are looking at the interaction of lava and ice at these mounds. My guess is that heat from the flood lava caused the ice to melt and erupt upward, forming the mounds. That heat also allowed some ice to sublimate away, leaving behind hollow areas such as the already-described mound in the lower right.
The location is also about 400 miles southwest of some of Starship’s prime landing sites, chosen because of the presence of lots of near-surface ice.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 1, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled by the science team as showing “possible lava-ice interaction,” the photo features some pimply-looking mounds that, though round like craters, sit above the surrounding landscape like small volcanoes.
That these are likely not ancient pedestal impact craters that now sit higher because their material is packed and can resist erosion is illustrated by the bridge-like mound in the lower right. This mound was likely once solid, but its north and south sections have disappeared, either by erosion or sublimation. If formed by an impact the mound would have had a depression in its top center, and would have only eroded outside the rim.
As always the location explains much. The yellow dot on the overview map to the right marks this location, just above 30 degrees latitude in the icy northern lowland plains of Mars.
At this latitude there is much near-surface ice. Moreover, Olympus Mons 800 miles to the southwest as well as the vast volcanic flood plains to the south that appear to flood this region as well suggest lots of volcanic processes here. Both explain why the scientists believe we are looking at the interaction of lava and ice at these mounds. My guess is that heat from the flood lava caused the ice to melt and erupt upward, forming the mounds. That heat also allowed some ice to sublimate away, leaving behind hollow areas such as the already-described mound in the lower right.
The location is also about 400 miles southwest of some of Starship’s prime landing sites, chosen because of the presence of lots of near-surface ice.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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