Elysium Planitia

This article is about the plain on Mars. For other uses, see Elysium (disambiguation).
Elysium Planitia
MOLA topographical map of Elysium Planitia (spacecraft landing sites are annotated in Commons)
Coordinates3°00′N 154°42′E / 3.0°N 154.7°E / 3.0; 154.7
Location of Elysium Plantia on Mars

Elysium Planitia, located in the Elysium and Aeolis quadrangles, is a broad plain that straddles the equator of Mars, centered at 3°00′N 154°42′E / 3.0°N 154.7°E / 3.0; 154.7.[1] It lies to the south of the volcanic province of Elysium, the second largest volcanic region on the planet, after Tharsis. Elysium contains the major volcanoes Elysium Mons, Albor Tholus and Hecates Tholus. Another more ancient shield volcano, Apollinaris Mons, is situated just to the south of eastern Elysium Planitia. Within the plains, Cerberus Fossae is the only Mars location with recent volcanic eruptions. Lava flows dated no older than 0.2 million years from the present have been found,[2] and evidence has been found that volcanic activity may have occurred as recently as 53,000 years ago. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms.[3][4]

The largest craters in Elysium Planitia are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh. The planitia also has river valleys—one of which, Athabasca Valles may be one of the youngest on Mars. On the north east side is an elongated depression called Orcus Patera, and this and some of the eastern plains were imaged in the 1965 Mariner 4 flyby.[5]

A 2005 photo of a locale in Elysium Planitia at 5°N, 150°E by the Mars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The volume of ice is estimated to be 800 km (500 mi) by 900 km (560 mi) in size and 45 m (148 ft) deep, similar in size and depth to the North Sea.[6] The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods from the Cerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago. The surface of the area is broken into 'plates' like broken ice floating on a lake (see below). Impact crater counts show that the plates are up to 1 million years older than the gap material, showing that the area solidified much too slowly for the material to be basaltic lava.[7]

  1. ^ "Elysium Planitia". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  2. ^ Horvath, David G.; Moitra, Pranabendu; Hamilton, Christopher W.; Craddock, Robert A.; Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C. (2021), "Evidence for geologically recent explosive volcanism in Elysium Planitia, Mars", Icarus, 365: 114499, arXiv:2011.05956, Bibcode:2021Icar..36514499H, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114499, S2CID 226299879
  3. ^ O'Callaghan, Jonathan (20 November 2020). "Signs of Recent Volcanic Eruption on Mars Hint at Habitats for Life - Not thought to be volcanically active, Mars may have experienced an eruption just 53,000 years ago". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. ^ Horvath, David G.; et al. (2021). "Evidence for geologically recent explosive volcanism in Elysium Planitia, Mars". Icarus. 365: 114499. arXiv:2011.05956. Bibcode:2021Icar..36514499H. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114499. S2CID 226299879.
  5. ^ Williams, Dave; Friedlander, Jay. "The Orcus Patera region on Mars". Mars - Mariner 4. NASA. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. ^ Young, Kelly (25 February 2005). "'Pack ice' suggests frozen sea on Mars". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
  7. ^ Murray, JB; Muller, JP; Neukum, G; Werner, SC; Van Gasselt, S; Hauber, E; Markiewicz, WJ; Head Jw, 3rd; et al. (17 March 2007). "Evidence ... for a frozen sea close to Mars' equator". Nature. 434 (7031): 352–355. Bibcode:2005Natur.434..352M. doi:10.1038/nature03379. PMID 15772653. S2CID 4373323.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)