New study suggests possibility of recent underground volcanism on Mars

The Red Planet is sometimes considered a dead planet, but new research suggests that it may hide a roiling, volcanic beat within its crust.

more…

Tau.Neutrino said:

New study suggests possibility of recent underground volcanism on Mars

The Red Planet is sometimes considered a dead planet, but new research suggests that it may hide a roiling, volcanic beat within its crust.

more…

> A study published last year in the journal Science suggested liquid water is present beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars. Now, a new study in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters argues there needs to be an underground source of heat for liquid water to exist underneath the polar ice cap.

> The new research does not take sides as to whether the liquid water exists. Instead, the authors suggest recent magmatic activity – the formation of a magma chamber within the past few hundred thousand years – must have occurred underneath the surface of Mars for there to be enough heat to produce liquid water underneath the kilometer-and-a-half thick ice cap. On the flip side, the study’s authors argue that if there was not recent magmatic activity underneath the surface of Mars, then there is not likely liquid water underneath the ice cap.

Very interesting.

But why would an underground source of heat be needed? Couldn’t pressure plus high salt concentration suffice?

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

New study suggests possibility of recent underground volcanism on Mars

The Red Planet is sometimes considered a dead planet, but new research suggests that it may hide a roiling, volcanic beat within its crust.

more…

> A study published last year in the journal Science suggested liquid water is present beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars. Now, a new study in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters argues there needs to be an underground source of heat for liquid water to exist underneath the polar ice cap.

> The new research does not take sides as to whether the liquid water exists. Instead, the authors suggest recent magmatic activity – the formation of a magma chamber within the past few hundred thousand years – must have occurred underneath the surface of Mars for there to be enough heat to produce liquid water underneath the kilometer-and-a-half thick ice cap. On the flip side, the study’s authors argue that if there was not recent magmatic activity underneath the surface of Mars, then there is not likely liquid water underneath the ice cap.

Very interesting.

But why would an underground source of heat be needed? Couldn’t pressure plus high salt concentration suffice?

If heat rises then it could help push the water vapor up towards the surface.

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

dv said:

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Ill try again

What happens when the magma retreats inwards as the crust thickens

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Unless it is on the surface, it is not lava. Below the surface, it is magma.

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Ill try again

What happens when the magma retreats inwards as the crust thickens

You end up with hot plutonic bodies (eg granite) that eventually cool.

dv said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Ill try again

What happens when the magma retreats inwards as the crust thickens

You end up with hot plutonic bodies (eg granite) that eventually cool.

Have any underground temperatures been taken on mars.

How far down would its magma activity be or if the magma has gone, just hot rock ?

dv said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

There’s no such thing as underground volcanism. By definition, volcanism is the emergence of lava on the surface of a planet.

What happens when the lava retreats inwards ?

Unless it is on the surface, it is not lava. Below the surface, it is magma.

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Ill try again

What happens when the magma retreats inwards as the crust thickens

You end up with hot plutonic bodies (eg granite) that eventually cool.

Have any underground temperatures been taken on mars.

How far down would its magma activity be or if the magma has gone, just hot rock ?

No, and we don’t know.

dv said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

dv said:

You end up with hot plutonic bodies (eg granite) that eventually cool.

Have any underground temperatures been taken on mars.

How far down would its magma activity be or if the magma has gone, just hot rock ?

No, and we don’t know.

Underground temperatures are being taken for the first time on Mars by the InSight Lander. What it’s measuring is the heat flor out of the interiour of Mars, which should give us a profile of temperature vs depth. Even deeper temperatures will come from the Earthquake measurements by InSight.

So. “No and we don’t know” but we soon will. How soon?

“science data collection doesn’t start fully until about 10 weeks after landing.” It landed 26 November 2018, so 10 weeks after that is Mon 4 Feb 2019.

The heat probe is deployed after the Seismometer and “should take about 40 days to reach 16 feet (5 meters) deep.”

I wonder how it’s doing?

dv said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Have any underground temperatures been taken on mars.

How far down would its magma activity be or if the magma has gone, just hot rock ?

No, and we don’t know.

Underground temperatures are being taken for the first time on Mars by the InSight Lander. What it’s measuring is the heat flor out of the interiour of Mars, which should give us a profile of temperature vs depth. Even deeper temperatures will come from the Earthquake measurements by InSight.

So. “No and we don’t know” but we soon will. How soon?

“science data collection doesn’t start fully until about 10 weeks after landing.” It landed 26 November 2018, so 10 weeks after that is Mon 4 Feb 2019.

The heat probe is deployed after the Seismometer and “should take about 40 days to reach 16 feet (5 meters) deep.”

I wonder how it’s doing?

“On 19 December 2018, the SEIS instrument was deployed onto the surface of Mars next to the lander by its robotic arm, and it was commissioned on 4 February 2019. After the seismometer became fully operational, the heat probe instrument was deployed on 12 February 2019, and it should reach its maximum depth of 5 m (16 ft) about two months after the mole is activated.”