Is recent volcanism at Central Elysium Planitia similar to large terrestrial igneous provinces?

Details Is recent volcanism at Central Elysium Planitia similar to large terrestrial igneous provinces? Is recent volcanism at Central Elysium Planitia similar to large terrestrial igneous provinces?

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p43c1410b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P43C-1410

Mathematics

Logic

1037 Magma Genesis And Partial Melting (3619), 5410 Composition (1060, 3672), 5430 Interiors (8147), 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 5480 Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450)

Scientific paper

Evidence in favour of recent volcanism at Central Elysium Planitia (CEP), previously referred to as the Ceberus Plains, dates back to the era of the Viking orbiters [1]. At the present time controversy surrounds the origin of some of the CEP surfaces (lava flows, surface pack-ice?) [e.g, 2,3]. A summary of the principal arguments in favour of a volcanic origin will be presented, before consideration of our results concerning (1) the rheology of these lavas, (2) the volume of volcanic material, (3) the timing of these eruptions. Most of the studies of the rheologic properties of lava flows at CEP agree with the idea that these lavas are emanating from both fissure vents and shield volcanoes, and that they are among the most fluid lavas at the Surface of Mars. From topographic modelling of the basins and large craters infilled by the lavas, we estimate that the volume of volcanic material at CEP ranges from 1.3-1.7 105 km, indicating a total volume similar to that of Elysium or Syrtis Major. Ages from crater counts have been derived in many places selected in order to infer the volcanic history at CEP. Ages are distributed from 260 Ma to several Ma with some gaps, indicative of relatively long periods of inactivity. The distribution of ages does not suggest spatial migration of the volcanic activity with time. The onset for volcanic activity in the case of central volcanoes is generally difficult to establish as recent lavas cover older ones. However, in the case of Cerberus, our result suggests surface magmatism over a period of more than two hundred millions years. It is found that the style of volcanism alternates between large lava sheets and shield volcanoes, invalidating the idea that volcanism at CEP might have evolved from large sheets to central eruptions. Among the 22 shield volcanoes documented, 7 were dated, and it is significant that their ages cover the entire history of CEP (261 My, 111 My, 88 My, 52 My, 50 My, 7My, 6.5 My). The older volcanoes are generally buried under more recent lava sheets. This therefore implies that the style of volcanic activity at CEP is notably different than that of large terrestrial igneous provinces associated with mantle plumes. In CEP, approximately 1.5*105 km3 or lava were erupted during several large events over a period of a few hundreds of millions of years, separated by long periods of inactivity. In contrast, the compilation of data concerning the terrestrial large igneous provinces show that about 107 km3 of lava are produced, in different locations, each 30 millions of years, the duration of each event being only few millions years for the peak of activity [4]. The characteristic times and volumes of volcanic activity at CEP that we derived do not appear consistent with plume associated magmatism as described on Earth, arguing in favour of alternative mechanisms for recent volcanism, such as that proposed by Schumacher and Breuer [5]. It remains to be understood how fluid lavas can be produced in this context. [1] Plescia, J.B., Icarus, 88, 465-490, 1990. [2] Jaeger, W.L. et al., Science, 317 (1709), 2007. [3] Paige, D., Science, 320, 1588b, 2008. [4] White, R., and D. McKenzie, Journ. Geophys. Res., 94 (B6), 7685-7729, 1989. [5] Schumacher, S., and D. Breuer, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L12202, 2007.

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