Scoria cones on Mars: detailed investigation of morphometry based on high - resolution Digital Elevation Models

0446868 - GFÚ 2016 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Brož, Petr - Čadek, O. - Hauber, E. - Rossi, A. P.
Scoria cones on Mars: detailed investigation of morphometry based on high - resolution Digital Elevation Models.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Roč. 120, č. 9 (2015), s. 1512-1527. ISSN 2169-9097. E-ISSN 2169-9100
Institutional support: RVO:67985530
Keywords : Mars surface * volcanism * pyroclastic cone * scoria cone
Subject RIV: DC - Siesmology, Volcanology, Earth Structure
Impact factor: 3.440, year: 2013

We analyze the shapes of 28 hypothesized scoria cones in three regions on Mars, i.e., Ulysses and Hydraotes Colles and Coprates Chasma. Using available High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and Context Camera (CTX) digital elevation models, we determine the basic morphometric characteristics of the cones and estimate from ballistic modeling the physical parameters of volcanic eruptions that could have formed them. When compared to terrestrial scoria cones, most of the studied cones show larger volumes (up to 4.2 x 10(9) m(3)), larger heights (up to 573m), and smaller average slopes. The average slopes of the Ulysses, Hydraotes, and Coprates cones range between 7 degrees and 25 degrees, and the maximum slopes only rarely exceed 30 degrees, which suggests only a minor role of scoria redistribution by avalanching. Ballistic analysis indicates that all cones were formed in a similar way, and their shapes are consistent with an ejection velocity about 2 times larger and a particle size about 20 times smaller than on Earth. Our results support the hypothesis that the investigated edifices were formed by low-energy Strombolian volcanic eruptions and hence are equivalent to terrestrial scoria cones.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0248819