Mars is Still Geologically Active
upstart writes:
Enormous Mantle Plume Reveals Mars Is Still Geologically Active - ExtremeTech:
Mars has a reputation as a cold, dead world, but a new study suggests that may be only partially accurate. Researchers from the University of Arizona have analyzed a region that appears to be geologically boring by Martian standards, finding evidence the mantle is pushing upward, causing fissures, swelling, and quakes. This potential mantle plume could mean Mars is much more geologically active than it first appears.
We know that Mars was extremely geologically active in the past, as evidenced by the presence of the tallest volcanoes in the solar system. The planet cooled dramatically between three and four billion years ago, but perhaps it didn't cool as much as believed. The region in question is known as Elysium Planitia, a flat area of the planet's northern lowlands. That may sound familiar because that's where NASA's InSight lander set up shop several years ago to study the planet's internal structure. And wouldn't you know it, the probe's analysis of "marsquakes" shows that almost all of them originate around a series of fissures in Elysium Planitia known as Cerberus Fossae.
[...] When applying a tectonic model to the data, the team found a mantle plume was the only plausible explanation. Measurements show the plume measures about 2,500 miles across, which would be large even for Earth. It all adds up to a planet that has more going on under the surface than anyone thought. Future studies will have to explore the origins of this apparent mantle plume in a region where no one expected to find one.
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