23/30 December 2004
Hot and cold action on Mars
The HRSC (High-Resolution Stereo Camera) experiment on the ESA Mars Express mission has obtained new evidence for geological activity on Mars. The calderas on five major volcanoes in the Tharsis and Elysium regions have undergone repeated activation and resurfacing during the past 20% of Martian history, with caldera floors as young as 100 million years old and flank eruptions two million years old, suggesting that the volcanoes may still be active today. Glacial activity is also apparent: glacial deposits at the base of the Olympus Mons escarpment show evidence of activity as recently as four million years ago.
Recent and episodic volcanic and glacial activity
on Mars revealed by the High Resolution Stereo Camera
G. NEUKUM, R. JAUMANN, H. HOFFMANN, E. HAUBER, J.
W. HEAD, A. T. BASILEVSKY, B. A. IVANOV, S. C. WERNER, S. VAN GASSELT,
J. B. MURRAY, T. MCCORD & THE HRSC CO-INVESTIGATOR TEAM
Nature 432, 971–979 (2004); doi:10.1038/nature03231
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