28 Geology Beyond Earth: Recent Results from the Planets and Their Moons I

Tuesday, 10 April 2001
8:05 AM - 11:30 AM

3-D ANIMATION OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE THARSIS MAGMATIC COMPLEX, MARS

Paper number: 28-9
Program: THEME SESSIONS
Time: 11:10 AM – 11:30 AM

Authors

Abstract

The Tharsis magmatic complex is comprised of numerous components that formed during specific stages of the complex’s development, including volcanic constructs of varying sizes and extensive lava flow fields, prominent igneous plateaus, large outflow channel systems, vast canyon systems, and local and regional centers of tectonic activity, many of which are interpreted to be the result of magmatic-related processes, including uplift, faulting, volcanism, and local hydrothermal activity. Since the relative age of formation of the primary components of the complex are generally understood and the present topography is established, they can be “backstripped” systematically from their present configuration, providing approximate sequential views of the paleotopography at the cessation of each of the five stages of the complex’s development. This effort has resulted in a 3-D animation, which displays the five stages of development morphing into each other. Importantly, this work has "unmasked" a gigantic Noachian drainage basin/aquifer system in the eastern part of the Tharsis region of significant geologic and paleohydrologic implications.