A huge active magma plume beneath Mars

Scientists in the US have found strong evidence that an active plume of magma, about 4,000 kilometers in diameter, is likely in the mantle below Mars’ northern plains, pushing up the neighboring planet’s crust and carrying hot magma toward its surface.

The discovery upends the hitherto prevailing view of the stagnant geodynamic evolution of Mars over the past three billion years, showing that the “red” planet is much more active than previously thought.

Mars’ deceptively calm surface seems to hide a more turbulent interior.

The huge magma plume, found in the Elysium Planitia region near the Martian equator (the only plume on the planet where major volcanic eruptions have occurred in the last 200 million years), may explain the volcanic and seismic activity observed on Mars.

The planet was originally considered a geologically inactive world due to the lack of collision of tectonic plates and the clear signs of recent tectonic activity and volcanic eruptions.

But recently, NASA’s automated geological laboratory Insight, which has been on Mars since 2018, detected low but persistent seismic activity.

The quakes likely originate almost entirely from the Cerberus Fossae region, which is riddled with surface fissures extending more than 1,000 kilometers and is also the site of the last known Martian volcanic eruption some 53,000 years ago.

Researchers led by Dr. Adrian Brockett of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, who published the related publication in the astronomy journal Nature Astronomy, analyzed the topography, gravity and geology of the broader Elysium Planitia region, where both InSight and Cerberus Fossae are located.

Using geophysical models, they found evidence that the entire region “lies” on top of a massive mantle plume that contains hot, rocky material. The center of the plume is just below Cerberus Fossae.

“We thought InSight landed in one of the most geologically boring regions of Mars, on a nice flat surface. Instead, our study showed that InSight landed directly on top of an active magma plume,” Brocket said, in other words in a region that is anything but carelessness.

As on Earth, the presence of such an active plume leads to ongoing local geological activity, including earthquakes like the one detected by InSight, while also causing the crust beneath Cerberus Fossae to slowly open. If these results are confirmed, Mars is the third body in our solar system, after Earth and Venus, to have active magma plumes today.

“We have strong evidence of active magma plumes on Earth and Venus, but this was not expected on a world as small and presumably as cold as Mars.

This planet was very active three to four billion years ago, and the prevailing opinion is that it is basically dead today.”

“Volcanic activity of enormous intensity and duration in the planet’s early history produced the highest volcanism in our solar system and covered most of the northern hemisphere with volcanic deposits. The relatively little activity in the recent history of Mars so far has been attributed to passive processes of a slowly cooling planet” rather than to the currently active magma plume, According to Brockett.

On Earth, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are associated with tectonic plates, or rock columns. “We know Mars doesn’t have plate tectonics, so we looked to see if the Cerberus Fossae region might have formed as a result of a plume of magma,” Brockett said, and that’s exactly what it sounds like.

Overall, the wider area of ​​Elysium Planitia appears to have been raised by at least a kilometer and a half, apparently due to downward pressure from rising magma.

The researchers estimate that “the magma plume has impacted an area of ​​Mars about the size of the United States.” Andrews Hana added: “We are confident that the future will hold more surprises.”

source: RES-EMP

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