Fluid lava flows in Gusev crater, Mars

Abstract

[1] Rocks on the floor of Gusev crater are basaltic in composition, as determined from measurements by the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. On the basis of compositional data, models of the basaltic lavas at the time of their emplacement suggest viscosities of 2.3 to 50 Pa Á s (dependent on the number of phenocrysts and vesicles that were present), which would be more fluid than terrestrial tholeiitic lavas and comparable to mare lavas on the Moon or Archean high-Mg basalts on Earth. Morphological data and crater counts derived from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express and other orbiters suggest that the lavas flooded Gusev crater at about 3.65 b.y. and postdate older floor materials, such as putative sediments emplaced by Ma'adim Vallis.

Phase equilibrium investigations of the Adirondack class basalts from the Gusev plains, Gusev crater, Mars

“…The temperature of multiple saturation, 1320 °C, is within the temperature range of Earth's basaltic magmatism (1280-1475 °C) (e.g., Kinzler and Grove 1992;McKenzie and Bickle 1988), indicating that conditions for Martian basalt production would be characterized by high mantle potential temperatures, similar to those on modern Earth. Greeley et al (2005) suggest that the basalts emplaced on the floor of Gusev crater may be temporally related to volcanic activity on the southern side of Apollinaris Patera and may be the result of regional volcanism around 3.65-3.76 Gyr. This indicates that high mantle potential temperatures, similar to those on modern Earth, persisted on Mars for at least 1.0 Gyr, until the end of the Noachian era.…”

“…Age estimates of the Gusev basalt from crater counting are Late Noachian to early Hesperian (3.7 Gyr) (Greeley et al 2005). Therefore, the early Martian lithosphere beneath the Gusev site would have been thin and mantle conditions would have allowed melting to occur.…”

“…There are, however, a few caveats. First of all, Gusev basalts are believed to be late Noachian/early Hesperian in age (Greeley et al 2005), whereas the majority of the Martian crust formed during early Noachian (Nimmo and Tanaka 2005). Nevertheless, similar basalts are likely to have been erupted as long as the same thermal regime prevails, maybe during the first billion years of Martian history.…”

The evolution of a heterogeneous Martian mantle: Clues from K, P, Ti, Cr, and Ni variations in Gusev basalts and shergottite meteorites

“…1). Although there is no absolute age information, these diverse basalts are found in a Hesperian terrain that is estimated to have formed ∼3.7 billion years ago (Greeley et al, 2005). Importantly, Gusev basalts are samples of the Martian interior at an earlier time than the shergottites.…”

Quantifying geological processes on Mars—Results of the high resolution stereo camera (HRSC) on Mars express

“…Richardson et al (2013) revealed three major episodes activity of fields of several hundred vents between 2.56 and 3.52 Ga as the Syria Planum region evolved from a central ventvolcano to dispersed volcanism. The lavas flooding of Gusev Crater, the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, were dated at 3.65 Ga (Greeley et al, 2005b), postdating other floor materials such as hypothesized sediments from Ma'adim Vallis. The lava flows emplaced on the floor of Gusev Crater have similar crater count ages as volcanic activity on the southern flank of Apollinaris Patera, which could reflect a general regional volcanic episode (Greeley et al, 2005b).…”