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Volcanism on Mars
By Danielle Stroup
Introduction
• Search for water
- ice rich ground?
- vent system of volcanoes may also have
liquid water
- lead to possible life
Theories
• Based on fluvial and volcanic features in the
topography
• Evidence of their interaction
• Interlinked deposits
• Flow model results of the eruption rates
• Episodic nature of the eruption style and
their geologic youth, results in…..
The Potential of Continuing
Eruptions!!!
• With ongoing thermal and water sources, a
Martian environment compatible with life is
probable in the geologic future
• Liquid water is key for finding habitable
environments on Mars; these are places that
prebiotic chemistry or life could be going on
• “Follow the Water” has become the new slogan for
NASA’s new Mars Program
Volcanic-Ice Interactions
• Reasons behind this idea:
- these type of eruptions occur on Earth
underneath Antarctica
- Iceland has records of this occurrence
- potential for “oases” within the frozen desert
regions of Mars
- very young channels and debris aprons found on
many north-facing slopes at high latitudes are
speculated to have formed when liquid water
seeped out of the subsurface
Volcano importance
• Early history of Mars
- volcanoes would have had huge lava eruptions
- spewed up huge amounts of carbon dioxide and
other heat-trapping gases
-leads to the idea that Mars could have been
warmer and wetter
Volcanism is much greater than what people had
expected before
Water Systems
• Liquid water could be present on Mars at a depth
of several kilometers beneath the surface
• If lava flows beneath the crust, create hot springs
• Like Yellowstone, Mars hot springs could have
microbiological activity
• Do not have the technology to drill to those depths
More eruptions?
• Lava may still be flowing
• There is enough previous lava to bury the
entire United States four miles deep
• Volcanic activity may only be a fraction of
what it used to be, but might still be enough
to fuel life near the surface
Conclusion
• Theories exist, but no one is exactly sure if
life exists
• Iceland gives us a good picture of what
could exist on the planet today
Any Questions?