Satellite images suggest supervolcanoes out - Spiegel Online

crisis area was in the highlands of Arabia. In the underground, the unrest had increased until it inevitably came to the big bang: explosions shook the desert, and when things took their course, even remote areas were not safe before the upheavals that began in Arabia Terra

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What sounds like a flowery description of the Arab Spring, is actually the essence of a theory, the American Mars researchers have published in the latest issue of the scientific journal “Nature”. Because Arabia Terra is located on Mars: What detonated there were long extinct super volcano

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For decades, two volcanic provinces on Mars are known, the Tharsis and Elysium region. Here spewed huge shield volcanoes over long periods the fiery interior of the planet to the surface. The two provinces are among the most important discoveries of early Mars probes. Olympus Mons, Tharsis volcano is an old, with a height of 22 kilometers of the mightiest mountain in the solar system.

super volcanoes exploded on Earth

But if Arizona and his NASA colleague Jacob Bleacher goes to Joseph Michalski of Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, the probes have been overlooked something important: a third volcanic center in Arabia Terra region of Mars. That means “Arab country” and is scarred by craters highland region immediately north of the Martian equator. The region has a maximum dimension of about 4500 kilometers. Geologists because they keep their high crater density for one of the oldest geological areas of Mars.

oodles fine-grained, laminated material enigmatic origin Martian satellites have been identified in Arabia. It could be volcanic ash, suspect the “Nature” authors. And even more: Arabia’s Fire Mountains are another variety be explosive volcanism, namely super volcanoes. As geologists call volcanoes on earth, spit their powerful eruptions at least a thousand cubic kilometers of magma and ash into the country.

The eruptions are so fast that they are not suitable for the construction of the typical plate structure, as they are known from Vesuvius or Olympus Mons. Outbreaks underground super volcanoes are very rare in historical time, not a single case has been handed down. Last found something more than 26,000 years ago, rather than specifically on the North Island of New Zealand. The former inferno created the present Lake Taupo, which is at least greater than the lake.

Strange sinks in the Martian soil

“We have always asked us where the very old volcanoes on Mars are,” said Michalski. The discovery “supervulkanischer structures” now change the view of the Red Planet. The geologist finds it even conceivable that was prevalent in the young Mars explosive volcanism – with possibly far-reaching consequences for the evolution of the Martian climate

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authors attribute Their main argument is “Nature” the irregular crater in Arabia, which they have taken for their study under the microscope, the prime example is Eden Patera. This is an oddly shaped floor sink, it measures about 55 times 85 kilometers. Both internally and in their environment, the researchers see signs of volcanism and interpret the huge pit as volcanic caldera. Also the dimensions of the structure correspond to typical terrestrial craters super volcanoes.

An alternative explanation would be the formation of the impact of a large meteorite and the subsequent erosion that gave the structure its odd shape. The authors maintain, however unlikely.

still lack the evidence

Is Eden Patera so really a prototype of a bygone era Super Martian volcanoes, as it were the equivalent of the Taupo volcano of New Zealand? Or everything could have been different? Stephan van Gasselt, Mars expert at the Free University of Berlin, remains skeptical: “It would be conceivable as before, that they are impact craters Overlaying this, they can sometimes have a rather peculiar shape..” Volcanic or impact craters – both had been repeatedly confused with the interpretation of image data .

Even if the analyzed structures are actually ancient calderas, the authors would have to prove that it is really a different kind of volcanism is long known as the Fire Mountains. Van Gasselt: “It must also be checked whether the structures are really as old as the authors suggest it may be clarified by a precise datings Statistics of impact crater..” Nevertheless, the publication was an interesting post and could contribute to the discussion about the history of our neighboring planet.

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