Mars: Was Olympus Mons once a giant volcanic island?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CNRS

 

IMAGE: OLYMPUS MONS: A VOLCANIC ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF A VANISHED MARTIAN OCEAN. view more 

CREDIT: © A.HILDENBRAND/GEOPS/CNRS (IMAGE PRODUCED FROM MOLA PUBLIC DATA)

Imagine a volcanic island about the size of France and over 20,000 metres high. Such a landscape may once have existed on the planet Mars. Published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters on July 24, recent work led by a CNRS researcher1 shows that the giant Olympus Mons volcano on Mars shares morphological similarities with many active volcanic islands on Earth. Scientists believe they are the result of contact between liquid water and lava from the volcano. Similar features on the northern flank of the Alba Mons volcano, located more than 1,500 km from Olympus Mons, also support the idea that a vast ocean of liquid water once occupied the Red Planet's northern lowlands. Precise dating of these volcanic rocks could provide a considerable amount of information about the climatic evolution of Mars.

1. At the Laboratoire Géosciences Paris-Saclay (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay).

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JOURNAL

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

DOI

10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118302 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A giant volcanic island in an early Martian Ocean?

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Jul-2023