Medusae Fossae
The Medusae Fossae Formation is a large geological formation of probable volcanic origin on the planet Mars.[1]
It is named for the Medusa of Greek mythology. "Fossae" is Latin for "trenches".
The formation is a collection of soft, easily eroded deposits that extends off and on for more than 5,000 km along the equator.
Its roughly-shaped regions extend from just south of Olympus Mons to Apollinaris Patera, with a smaller additional region closer to Gale Crater.[2]
The total area of the Medusae Fossae Formation is equal to 20% the size of the continental United States.[3]
The formation straddles what is called the martian dichotomy|highland - lowland boundary near the Tharsis and Elysium (volcanic province)|Elysium volcanic areas, and extends across five quadrangles: Amazonis, Tharsis, Memnonia, Elysium, and Aeolis.
Origin and age
The origin of the formation is unknown, but many theories have been presented over the years.
In 2020, a group of researchers headed by Peter Mouginis-Mark has hypothesized that the formation could have been formed from pumice rafts from the volcano Olympus Mons.[4] In 2012, a group headed by Laura Kerber hypothesized that it could have been formed from ash from the volcanoes Apollinaris Mons, Arsia Mons, and possibly Pavonis Mons.[5]
Its density and high content of sulfur and chlorine, suggests an explosive volcanic origin. It may have been deposited in periodic eruptions over an interval of 500 million years.[6]
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Lujendra Ojha (July 20, 2018). "[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05291-5/figures/1 Fig. 1, It has been determined that the Medusae Fossae Formation as the single largest source of dust on Mars]" (in en). Nature Communications. ISSN 2041-1723.
- ↑ "The Medusae Fossae Formation as the single largest source of dust on Mars" (2018). Nature Communications 9 (1): 2867. doi:. PMID 30030425. Bibcode: 2018NatCo...9.2867O.
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ "The dispersal of pyroclasts from ancient explosive volcanoes on Mars: Implications for the friable layered deposits" (2012). Icarus 219 (1): 358–381. doi:. Bibcode: 2012Icar..219..358K.
- ↑ "The Density of the Medusae Fossae Formation: Implications for its Composition, Origin, and Importance in Martian History" (2018). Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 123 (6): 1368–1379. doi:. Bibcode: 2018JGRE..123.1368O.
