On Earth, the shifting of tectonic plates stirs up the planet’s surface and creates a dynamic interior, so the absence of such processes on Mars led many to believe that it was a geologically dead planet, in which there was no A lot has happened in the last 3 billion years.
Adrien Broquet and Jeff Andrews-Hanna, both of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in the United States, challenge current views of Martian geodynamic evolution with their description of what appears to be an active mantle plume It pushes the surface of Mars up and causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The finding suggests that the planet’s deceptively calm surface may hide a more tumultuous interior than previously thought.
“Our study presents multiple lines of evidence that reveal the presence of a gigantic active mantle plume on present-day Mars,” Broquet stresses.
Mantle plumes are large masses of hot, floating rock that rise from the depths of a planet and push through its middle layer (the mantle) to the base of its crust, causing earthquakes, fault lines, and volcanic eruptions. The Hawaiian island chain, for example, was formed thanks to the intervention of a tablecloth feather.
“Discovering the current existence on Mars of an active mantle plume constitutes a paradigm shift for our knowledge of Martian geological evolution, comparable to when analyzes of seismic measurements recorded at the time of the Apollo program demonstrated that the core of the Moon is molten. “.
Artist’s impression of Mars and an active mantle plume (a large mass of hot, floating rock) rising from the depths of Mars and pushing up on Elysium Planitia, a plain in the northern lowlands of Mars. (Image: Adrien Broquet & Audrey Lasbordes)
According to the authors of the new study, their findings could also have implications for life on Mars. The studied region experienced liquid water flooding in its recent geological past, although the cause has remained a mystery. The same heat from the plume that is fueling ongoing volcanic and seismic activity may also have melted ice, causing flooding, as well as fueling chemical reactions that could support life deep underground.
“Earth microbes thrive in environments like this, and that could apply to Mars as well,” Andrews-Hanna ventures.
The study is titled “Geophysical evidence for an active mantle plume beneath Elysium Planitia on Mars”. And it has been published in the academic journal Nature Astronomy. (Font: NCYT de Amazings)