2024-04-10 23:51:45
French researchers suspect that the largest volcano in our solar system was once surrounded by masses of water. Why this is important.
At 21.9 kilometers, Olympus Mons on the planet Mars is the highest volcano in our solar system. Its base is about 600 kilometers in diameter. Scientists from the University of Paris-Saclay have analyzed the slopes of Olympus Mons and the Tharsis region of Mars and are convinced that the volcano was once an island in a vast ocean.
Anthony Hildenbrand’s research group found that the giant volcano has morphological similarities to active volcanic islands on Earth (e.g. Hawaii). What scientists are particularly interested in are the cliffs at the edge of the volcano’s base. They stretch up to six kilometers high and merge into a scree-like landscape.
Some researchers see escarpments in this cliff that were created due to the enormous load of the mountain of fire, others interpret them as erosion. But Hildenbrand and colleagues believe that Olympus Mons once poured its lava into an ocean.
Here the lava poured into the primordial ocean
“We think that the upper edge of the six-kilometer-high escarpment was created by lava flowing into liquid water,” they write in the journal “Earth and Planetary Science Letters.” The interaction of glowing lava with cold sea water creates similar, albeit much smaller, lava cliffs on terrestrial volcanic islands such as Hawaii, Galapagos or Réunion.
When the liquid rock hits water, it suddenly cools and solidifies. In the journal, the scientists speak of “strong viscosity contrasts”. The lava became viscous and hard much more quickly in these places. As a result, high cliffs piled up on the former shoreline.
Criticism from German NASA employee
But there is also criticism of the study by the Paris researchers. Gerald Eichstädt, who works for NASA as a citizen scientist. criticizes the incomplete argumentation and the selection of images.
Eichstädt: “If there was direct contact between lava and water, shouldn’t there be almost unequivocal traces of pillow lava, as in Hawaii? I wonder why the argument is only based on the somewhat ambiguous break-off edge and not with references to pillow lava in the quite high-resolution and abundantly available satellite images.”
You can now search for traces of life here
Olympus Mons was formed about three billion years ago at a time when, according to knowledge, there was still water on Mars – and possibly life. The Paris researchers believe they have found a good target for a Mars mission with the volcanic cliff.
“The coastlines we postulate could be dated using radiometric methods,” they suggest. “They could also be a clear witness to past sea levels, where we could specifically search for traces of early life.”