IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v432y2004i7020d10.1038_nature03231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Recent and episodic volcanic and glacial activity on Mars revealed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera

Author

Listed:
  • G. Neukum

    (Freie Universitaet Berlin)

  • R. Jaumann

    (DLR-Institut fuer Planetenforschung)

  • H. Hoffmann

    (DLR-Institut fuer Planetenforschung)

  • E. Hauber

    (DLR-Institut fuer Planetenforschung)

  • J. W. Head

    (Brown University)

  • A. T. Basilevsky

    (Freie Universitaet Berlin
    Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, RAS)

  • B. A. Ivanov

    (Freie Universitaet Berlin
    Institute of Dynamics of Geospheres)

  • S. C. Werner

    (Freie Universitaet Berlin)

  • S. van Gasselt

    (Freie Universitaet Berlin)

  • J. B. Murray

    (Open University)

  • T. McCord

    (University of Hawaii)

Abstract

The large-area coverage at a resolution of 10–20 metres per pixel in colour and three dimensions with the High Resolution Stereo Camera Experiment on the European Space Agency Mars Express Mission has made it possible to study the time-stratigraphic relationships of volcanic and glacial structures in unprecedented detail and give insight into the geological evolution of Mars. Here we show that calderas on five major volcanoes on Mars have undergone repeated activation and resurfacing during the last 20 per cent of martian history, with phases of activity as young as two million years, suggesting that the volcanoes are potentially still active today. Glacial deposits at the base of the Olympus Mons escarpment show evidence for repeated phases of activity as recently as about four million years ago. Morphological evidence is found that snow and ice deposition on the Olympus construct at elevations of more than 7,000 metres led to episodes of glacial activity at this height. Even now, water ice protected by an insulating layer of dust may be present at high altitudes on Olympus Mons.

Suggested Citation

  • G. Neukum & R. Jaumann & H. Hoffmann & E. Hauber & J. W. Head & A. T. Basilevsky & B. A. Ivanov & S. C. Werner & S. van Gasselt & J. B. Murray & T. McCord, 2004. "Recent and episodic volcanic and glacial activity on Mars revealed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera," Nature, Nature, vol. 432(7020), pages 971-979, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:432:y:2004:i:7020:d:10.1038_nature03231
    DOI: 10.1038/nature03231
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03231
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature03231?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:432:y:2004:i:7020:d:10.1038_nature03231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.