One Impact on Mars Produced More than Two Billion Secondary Craters

There are plenty of craters on Mars, especially when compared to Earth. That is primarily thanks to the lack of weathering forces and strong plate tectonics that disrupt the formations of such impacts on our home planet. However, not all impact craters on Mars are directly caused by asteroid impacts. Many of them are caused … Continue reading "One Impact on Mars Produced More than Two Billion Secondary Craters"

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Recent volcanism on Mars reveals a planet more active than previously thought

A vast, flat, "featureless" plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona. Enormous amounts of lava have erupted from numerous fissures as recently as 1 million years ago, blanketing an area almost as large as Alaska and interacting with water in and under the surface, resulting in large flood events that carved out deep channels.

Through international collaboration, scientists find cause of InSight’s most powerful Marsquake https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/10/s1222a-origins/ #elysiumplanitia #marsexpress #marsquake #tianwen-1 #featured #insight #science #s1222a #other #uaesa #cnsa #hope #isro #mars #nasa #esa
Through international collaboration, scientists find cause of InSight’s most powerful Marsquake - NASASpaceFlight.com

An international team of scientists has found the cause of the largest Martian seismic event,…

NASASpaceFlight.com
NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science

The mission has concluded that the solar-powered lander has run out of energy after more than four years on the Red Planet.

NASA's InSight Mars Lander
#Marsquakes, recent volcanism suggest #Mars has a mantle plume
#ElysiumPlanitia is best explained by same process that powers Yellowstone. It has signs of recent volcanic activity, though not as much as Tharsis region, which contains Mars' largest #volcano https…
From @NatureAstronomy : #astro #planets, #Mars is active! A 4,000 km diameter hot active #plume head stands below #ElysiumPlanitia, similar to large terrestrial plumes. Its centre coincides with Cerberus Fossae and it drives #seismic and #tectonic activity. And @nasa #InSight sits on top of it! Broquet & Andrews-Hanna https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01836-3?utm_campaign=natastronTWT
Geophysical evidence for an active mantle plume underneath Elysium Planitia on Mars | Nature Astronomy

Although the majority of volcanic and tectonic activity on Mars occurred during the first 1.5 billion years of its geologic history, recent volcanism, tectonism and active seismicity in Elysium Planitia reveal ongoing activity. However, this recent pulse in volcanism and tectonics is unexpected on a cooling Mars. Here we present observational evidence and geophysical models demonstrating that Elysium Planitia is underlain by an ~4,000-km-diameter active mantle plume head. Plume activity provides an explanation for the regional gravity and topography highs, recent volcanism, transition from compressional to extensional tectonics and ongoing seismicity. The inferred plume head characteristics are comparable to terrestrial plumes that are linked to the formation of large igneous provinces. Our results demonstrate that the interior of Mars is geodynamically active today, and imply that volcanism has been driven by mantle plumes from the formation of the Hesperian volcanic provinces and Tharsis in the past to Elysium Planitia today. An ~4,000-km-diameter and 200–500-km-thick active mantle plume is present below Elysium Planitia on Mars, indicating that the Martian interior is geodynamically active and drives the volcanic and seismic activity of the region. Studies from the InSight lander need to consider the presence of the plume.

Mars Weather at Elysium Planitia

InSight is taking daily weather measurements (air temperature, wind, pressure) on the surface of Mars at Elysium Planitia, a flat, smooth plain near Mars’ equator.