Olympus Mons Aureole and Basal Scarp: Rationale for In-situ Exploration

Details Olympus Mons Aureole and Basal Scarp: Rationale for In-situ Exploration Olympus Mons Aureole and Basal Scarp: Rationale for In-situ Exploration

Sep 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0225m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #02.25; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1063

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Scientific paper

Structural models of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars, suggest a strong rationale for robotic exploration. A scarp up to 10 km high defines the base of the edifice, which is surrounded by an aureole of disrupted terrain extending for hundreds of kilometers. One explanation for aureole and scarp formation involves repeated catastrophic flank failure along a detachment between the volcano and the underlying terrain. In this view, the aureole material consists of a series of highly fragmented landslides; the basal scarp is then the coalesced headwalls of these landslides. Material from depths up to 10 kilometers is thus potentially exposed at the current surface. On Earth, detachment structures (e.g., at Hawaii) are likely maintained by elevated pore fluid (water) pressure. A similar fluid-enhanced system may enable basal slip and edifice failure at Olympus Mons. Analysis of samples from deep within the earlier edifice (exposed in the aureole or basal scarp) would yield insight into volcanic processes, crustal formation, and planetary differentiation. The discovery of possible remnants of Martian life in meteorite Allan Hills 84001 provides an added impetus to seek deep samples. The deep flanks of Olympus Mons are shielded from exposure to ultraviolet radiation, extreme cold, and other surface conditions harmful to life. The volcano, and more generally the Tharsis region, have likely been a source of thermal energy for a large fraction of the planet's history. Given the argument for subsurface water, the flanks of Olympus Mons constitute a site favorable to the long-term maintenance of life on Mars, perhaps as hyperthermophile organisms analogous to those discovered in terrestrial hydrothermal vents. Fossil remnants of such activity may be exposed to examination in the aureole or basal scarp. Data from the upcoming Mars Global Surveyor mission will help to evaluate the landslide hypothesis and possibly to locate candidate sites around Olympus Mons for a mobile lander or sample return mission.

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