Olympus Could Have Been a Giant Volcanic Island in an Ancient Martian Ocean universetoday storybywill
Olympus Mons: a volcanic island in the middle of a vanished Martian ocean. Credit & ©: A.Hildenbrand/Geops/CNRS
This ancient atmosphere is similar to what we see on Mars today, which is predominantly composed of carbon dioxide with trace amounts of nitrogen, argon, oxygen, and minute amounts of water vapor. While the Martian atmosphere was once thicker and able to absorb more heat, it began being stripped away by solar wind once the planet’s global magnetic field disappeared .
For decades, astronomers and astrogeologists have considered the Tharsis Montes region as an anomaly. While the feature has poorly defined boundaries, it measures about 5,000 km in diameter and up to 7 km in height. The most widely-held view is that this region sits atop a volcanic “hotspot” created by one or more columns of hot magma rising through the mantle – similar to the islands of Hawaii and other hotspots in the Pacific.
Based on their findings, Hildebrand and his team theorize that the upper rim of the 6 km -high main escarpment surrounding Olympus Mons was likely formed during the late Noachian to early Hesperian by lava flowing into liquid water. This is bolstered by similar features observed on the northern flank of Alba Mons, located 1,800 km northwest of Olympus Mons. This elliptically-shaped volcanic feature has a maximum height of 6.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
America's gender pay gap has shrunk to an all-time low, data showsThe pay gap between what U.S. women with a full-time job earn compared with their male peers is now the smallest on record, according to the Labor Department.
Read more »
Video shows explosion tear apart 2-story building in Newark, leaving 6 people hurtNew video shows the moment an apartment building in Newark suddenly exploded, sending debris flying into the air as half a dozen people were hurt — and even more were left homeless.
Read more »
The 1975 cancels shows in Jakarta, Taipei after taking same-sex stance in MalaysiaMatt Healey, the lead vocal of The 1975, used profanity in his speech criticizing the government’s stance against homosexuality, before kissing bass player Ross MacDonald. FOX13
Read more »
Disney's decline shows its woke focus is 'alienating' fans: WSJ columnDisney's 'woke' priorities in casting for live action remakes are turning off customers, while the company is already suffering losses in streaming subscribers, a column argued.
Read more »