Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano
Abstract
Mars hosts the solar system’s largest volcanoes. Although their size and impact crater density indicate continued activity over billions of years, their formation rates are poorly understood. Here we quantify the growth rate of a Martian volcano by 40Ar/39Ar and cosmogenic exposure dating of six nakhlites, meteorites that were ejected from Mars by a single impact event at 10.7 ± 0.8 Ma (2σ). We find that the nakhlites sample a layered volcanic sequence with at least four discrete eruptive events spanning 93 ± 12 Ma (1416 ± 7 Ma to 1322 ± 10 Ma (2σ)). A non-radiogenic trapped 40Ar/36Ar value of 1511 ± 74 (2σ) provides a precise and robust constraint for the mid-Amazonian Martian atmosphere. Our data show that the nakhlite-source volcano grew at a rate of ca. 0.4–0.7 m Ma-1—three orders of magnitude slower than comparable volcanoes on Earth, and necessitating that Mars was far more volcanically active earlier in its history.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[4];
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), East Kilbride, Scotland (United Kingdom). Isotope Geoscience Unit; Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom). School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), East Kilbride, Scotland (United Kingdom). Isotope Geoscience Unit; Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth & Environmental Science
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear & Chemical Sciences Division
- Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom). School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), East Kilbride, Scotland (United Kingdom). Isotope Geoscience Unit
- The Natural History Museum, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Sciences
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), East Kilbride, Scotland (United Kingdom); Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) (United Kingdom)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1497295
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-739514
Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723; 892871
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344; NNH14AX56I; ST/H002472/1; ST/H002960/1; ST/K000918/1
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES; inner planets; meteoritics; volcanology
Citation Formats
Cohen, Benjamin E., Mark, Darren F., Cassata, William S., Lee, Martin R., Tomkinson, Tim, and Smith, Caroline L. Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00513-8.
Cohen, Benjamin E., Mark, Darren F., Cassata, William S., Lee, Martin R., Tomkinson, Tim, & Smith, Caroline L. Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00513-8
Cohen, Benjamin E., Mark, Darren F., Cassata, William S., Lee, Martin R., Tomkinson, Tim, and Smith, Caroline L. Tue .
"Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00513-8. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1497295.
@article{osti_1497295,
title = {Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano},
author = {Cohen, Benjamin E. and Mark, Darren F. and Cassata, William S. and Lee, Martin R. and Tomkinson, Tim and Smith, Caroline L.},
abstractNote = {Mars hosts the solar system’s largest volcanoes. Although their size and impact crater density indicate continued activity over billions of years, their formation rates are poorly understood. Here we quantify the growth rate of a Martian volcano by 40Ar/39Ar and cosmogenic exposure dating of six nakhlites, meteorites that were ejected from Mars by a single impact event at 10.7 ± 0.8 Ma (2σ). We find that the nakhlites sample a layered volcanic sequence with at least four discrete eruptive events spanning 93 ± 12 Ma (1416 ± 7 Ma to 1322 ± 10 Ma (2σ)). A non-radiogenic trapped 40Ar/36Ar value of 1511 ± 74 (2σ) provides a precise and robust constraint for the mid-Amazonian Martian atmosphere. Our data show that the nakhlite-source volcano grew at a rate of ca. 0.4–0.7 m Ma-1—three orders of magnitude slower than comparable volcanoes on Earth, and necessitating that Mars was far more volcanically active earlier in its history.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-017-00513-8},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = ,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Tue Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Distribution and size of Martian volcanoes. a Amazonian volcanic products on Mars (digital elevation model and orange outlines43) are located in the Tharsis and Elysium regions, with the largest volcano, the 600 km wide Olympus Mons, rising more than 21 km above the surrounding plains. The red starmore »
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