REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS AND SPACE PHYSICS, VOL. 19, NO.

1, PAGES 13-41, FEBRUARY 1981

Volcanism on Mars

RONALD GREELEY AND PAUL D. SPUDIS

Departmentof Geologyand Centerfor Meteorite Studies,Arizona State University,Tempe,Arizona 85281

More than 15 yearsof planetaryexplorationof Mars have given insightinto the geologicprocesses that
have shapedits surface.The newly acquiredViking data have shownthat volcanismis one of the most
important geologicprocesses operatingon Mars throughoutits history.In situ chemicalanalysesof Mar-
tian soil by the Viking lander spacecraftindicatemafic to ultramaficsourcerocks.This is consistentboth
with available remotesensingdata, which indicatethe presenceof mafic mineralssuchas pyroxeneand
olivine, and with petrologicmodeling, basedon available geophysicaldata which suggestthat Martian
lavas are probably iron rich and ultramafic.Thesedata stronglysuggestthat basalticvolcanismis wide-
spreadon Mars, and much of the photogeologicaldata may be studiedin this context. Photogeological
analysisof the Martian surfacehasshowntwo main typesof volcanicmorphologies:the first type is cen-
tral volcanoes,which are volcanic landforms developedby continued and prolongederuption from a
point sourcevent. This categoryincludes(1) shields,the classiclow-profile volcanicmountainsof which
Olympus Mons is the most spectacularexample, (2) domes, steep-sidedconstructs,such as Tharsis
Tholus, that may representlower ratesof eruption than the shieldsor, possibly,more siliciclava compo-
sitions,(3) highlandpatera,radially texturedlow-profilevolcanoesthat occurin the crateredterrain and
are interpretedas ash shields,(4) Alba Patera, an apparentlyunique volcaniclandform consistingof a
vastvolcaniccenterover 1500km acrosswith flank slopesof lessthan a tenth of a degree,and (5) various
small featuressuchas cindercones.The secondmajor categoryis volcanicplains,which are units recog-
nized by severalcriteria, of which the presenceof mare ridgesand flow lobes are the most useful. Vol-
canicplainsare subdividedinto four main groups:(1) simpleflows,broad, smoothto rolling plains that
contain numerousmare-type ridgesbut no flow lobes, interpretedas being composedof thick, single-
coolingunits, (2) complexflows,displayingmultiple overlappingflow lobesinterpretedto be indicative
of thin, multiple-coolingunits, (3) undifferentiatedflows, plains that typically lack any morphologic
identifying feature but are consideredto be volcanicpartly on the basisof their associationwith large
volcaniccenters,and (4) questionableplains, volcanic(?)units heavily modified by other processes (ero-
sion, tectonism,etc.) so that their originsare uncertain.When thesecategoriesof volcanicmorphologies
are combinedwith relativeage data providedby craterstatistics,a volcanichistoryfor Mars can be de-
rived as follows:Early heavy bombardmentof Mars was accompaniedand followed by small-scaleflu-
vial channeling,extensiveflood volcanism(the plateau plains), and ash shield volcanismin the cratered
terrain. Shortly after this time, lessextensiveflood volcanismcontinuedto resurfacethe planet during
formation of the northern/southernhemispheredichotomy.Central volcanismbecamemore prominent
with the developmentof the Alba Patera center as well as the older shieldsand domesof the northern
hemisphere(early Tharsisand Elysium regions).The developmentof the Tharsis and Elysium uplifts
may have triggeredthe releaseof large-scalecatastrophicfloods,producinglarge channels.Continued
uplift and lithosphericthinning concentratedvolcanicactivity in the Tharsis region, producinglarge
shield volcanoesand extensivelava plains. Both central vent and plains volcanism have been active
throughoutMartian history,but the volumesof extrusionhave gradually decreasedwith time. This is
consistentwith a moonlike thermal history involving a lithosphereof increasingthicknesswith time,
gradually'turning off' the volcanism.Although many questionsremain regardingMartian volcanism,the
Viking data haveprovideda remarkable,detailedoverviewof the probablenature of the volcanichistory
of Mars.

CONTENTS planets. Mariner 9 first returned conclusiveevidence for vol-

Introduction ......................................................................................
Data base .......................................................................................
Approach....................................................................................... 15
Compositionalconsiderationsfor Martian volcanism................... 15
Viking lander data ........................................................................ 15
Remote sensingdata..................................................................... 17
Compositionsderivedfrom geophysicalmodeling.................... 18
Physicsof Martian lavas................................................................... 18
Photogeologicalanalysis.................................................................. 19
General statement .........................................................................
Central volcanoes ..........................................................................
Volcanic plains.............................................................................. 30
Volcanic history ................................................................................ 37
Summary and conclusions............................................................... 39
A. INTRODUCTION
Throughoutthe past decadeand a half of lunar and plan-
etary exploration, volcanism has been found to be an ex-
tremely important processin the evolution of the terrestrial
Copyright¸ 1981by the AmericanGeophysical
Union.
Paper number 80R1298.
0034-6853/81/080R- 1298501.00
13 canism on Mars (Figure 1) with spectacularimagesof shield
15 volcanoesand lava flows [McCauley et al., 1972]. Detailed
studyof Mariner 9 imagesshowedthat substantialparts of the
planet are coveredby volcanicmaterial, althoughthe definite
identification of some of the units remained questionable.
During the post-Mariner-9,pre-Viking period, numeroustop-
ical studiesof Martian volcanoeswere carriedout, principally
on the shield volcanoes[e.g., Carr, 1973, 1975; Blasius, 1976;
19
21 Malin, 1977] but also including analysesof volcanic channels
[Carr, 1974; Greeley, 1973] and possiblecinder cones [West,
1974]. A synthesisof the volcanic mapping [Spudis and
Greeley, 1977; Scott and Carr, 1978] showed that as much as
54%of the planet is coveredwith probablevolcanicmaterials.
In assessing volcanic activity on Mars the following ques-
tions shouldbe addressed:(1) What is the geographicdistribu-
tion of volcanicfeaturesand units?(2) What are the different
typesof volcanoesand what stylesof volcanismwere involved
in their formation? (3) When and over what length of time
were the variousvolcanoesformed?(4) Where are the vents
13
14 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

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 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 15

for the volcanic materials?(5) What are the chemical and bine data setsfrom earth-basedobservationsand the Viking
physicalpropertiesof the volcanicmaterials?(6) What was orbitersto provide a better evaluation of regional surfacema-
the origin of the magmabodiesinvolvedin the volcanism?(7) terials.

How do othergeologicaleventsrelateto the episode(s)of vol-
canism?The Viking missionprovidesa global high-resolution
photographicdata baseof Mars and allows a meansof ad-
dressingsome of these questions.
In this paper we review the current state of knowledgeof
volcanismon Mars and attemptto synthesizethe availablege-
ochemical,geophysical,and photogeologicaldata into a gen-
eral pictureof Martian volcanism.Emphasiswill be placedon
photogeological data. We presenta classificationof Martian
volcanicfeaturesand showtheir global and temporal distribu-
tion (Figures1-3). From comparisons with terrestrialand lu-
nar analogswe interpret the stylesof volcanismrepresented
on Mars. The classification,mapping, and interpretationsof
volcanicstyleare then combinedwith a Martian time scaleto
derivea generalizedvolcanichistoryfor Mars. From this his-
tory we hope to provide a framework for comparingvolcanic
episodeswith other eventsin the geologicalhistoryof Mars.
Finally, we identify the questionsleft unansweredin regard to
Martian volcanism.
The geophysicaldata base for Mars is extremely limited.
Studiesof the moment of inertia and other gravity data draw
on analysesof spacecraftorbits coupled with rather coarse
topographicdata. Seismicdata obtained by Viking Lander 2
[Andersonet al., 1977] is regarded as poor primarily because
the instrumentis not well coupledwith the ground. Estimates
of interior characteristics,such as the propertiesof the Mar-
tian mantle, are derived through various theoretical models
and remain open to question.
A substantialliteraturehasgrownfor the generalgeologyof
Mars, including discussionsof Martian volcanism. An ex-
cellent summaryof geologicalknowledgeprior to the Viking
missionis by Mutch et al. [1976]. Viking resultsare found in
specialissuesof the Journalof Geophysical Research(Septem-
ber 1977and December1979)and Icarus (June 1978);in addi-
tion, the general geologyof Mars basedon Viking data has
been reviewed by Carr [1980] and Arvidsonet al. [1980]; an
atlas of possibleearth analogsis given by Carr and Greeley
[1980].

1. Data Base 2. Approach

The study of Mars has reacheda turning point from essen- We first review the available data on the compositionof
surface materials on Mars and discuss the models of lavas and
tially a periodof reconnaissance, data accumulation,and rela-
tively rapid interpretationto a periodof methodicaldata anal- other rocks derived therefrom. We then review the implica-
ysisand synthesis.Exploration of Mars has gone through the tionsthat suchrock typeswould have for the physicalproper-
ties (e.g., viscosity)of the lavasand the stylesof volcanismin-
flyby (Mariners 4, 6, and 7), orbiter (Mariner 9, Viking Orbit-
ers 1 and 2), and the lander stages(Viking Landers 1 and 2). valved in their emplacement.
With the termination of the orbiter phase of the Viking mis- The primary data set for analysesof Martian volcanism is
sion in 1980after more than 4« yearsof highly successful photogeological.Thus our main approachhere is to classify
op-
eration, possibleadditional global data will not be available the various volcanic features identified on Mars, map their
until the flyby of the Galileo spacecraftin the mid-1980's. distribution, and place them in a relative time sequence.The
Thus with the exceptionof earth-basedobservations,we now classificationschemeusedis basedprimarily on surfacemor-
phology; becausethe morphology of volcanic landforms is
have all the data for Mars that we are likely to acquire for at
least the next 5 years. mainly a function of the style of volcanism, this schemewill
As relevant to studies of volcanism, the photogeological enable interpretation of the volcanic processesinvolved in
data base consists of more than 8000 moderate- to low-resolu- their formation. Relative dating of the mapped volcanic fea-
tion (NO.1 to 3 km) imagesobtainedby Mariner 4, 6, 7 and 9, turesis basedon superposition,crosscuttingrelations,and im-
more than 50,000 images returned by the Viking orbiters pact crater statistics.
(somewith resolutionbetterthan 10 m), and imagestaken on
the surfaceby the Viking landers. With the exception of the
B. COMPOSITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARTIAN
northernplains and someareas of the southerncratered ter- VOLCANISM
rain, contiguous moderate-resolution (~25-50 m) images
covermost of the planet and permit regional photogeological Estimatesof the compositionof volcanicmaterials on Mars
assessmentof its surface. Unfortunately, because of lack of are derived from analysesof surface materials at the Viking
uniform coverage, the northern plains remain largely un- landing sites,from remote sensingdata obtained by the Vi-
known not only for the volcanic history but in regard to the king orbiter and earth-basedobservations,and from theoreti-
generalgeologicalhistoryof Mars as well [Scott, 1979]. cal modeling basedprimarily on geophysicaland petralagical
Data on the compositionof Martian surface materials in- considerations.
dude three sources:Viking landers, Viking orbiters, and
earth-basedobservations.Viking lander information comes 1. VikingLander Data
primarily from the X ray fluorescence experimentand studies Both Viking landers are sited in the northern hemisphere
of the spectraland physicalpropertiesof the Martian soil. on plains units generallyregardedfrom orbital photogeology
Global compositionaldata are derived from color filter im- as volcanic. Information on the compositionof surfacemate-
agesobtainedby the Viking orbiters;although high in spatial rials is derived from the X ray fluorescencespectrometer,ex-
resolution, the spectral resolution is rather coarse for com- perimentsdealingwith the physicalpropertiesof surfacema-
positionalanalyses.Earth-basedspectralobservations, on the terials,and from color imaging data. Rocks at both sitesshow
otherhand, are relativelyhigh in spectralresolutionbut poor abundant holesand pits (Figure 4) regardedby someinvesti-
in spatialresolution;thus attemptshave been made to cam- gatorsas vesiclesin volcanicrocks[e.g.,Binderet al., 1977],al-
16 GREELEYAND SPUDIS:VOLCANISMON MARS

0
 GREELEY
ANDSPUDIS:
VOLCANISM
ONMARS 17

VOLCANIC PLAINS CENTRAL VOLCANOES MARTIAN GEOLOGIC EVENTS

I i
- I I I '

Polar deposits
I
c2 I
I

Vailes
Marineris
sh
d

• 5O I
I
Tharsis upwarp
i I
i

i Large-scalecatastrophicfloods
i
i
AP

• 110
'1/I
i
I
I
i
Northern/Southern hem isphere
scarp development

II hp
N

Small-scale
channelin
lHeavy
impact
170 ' I I i i • cratering
Simple
Flows Complex
Flows Undifferentiated AIba, Lava
flows highland shields;

•l 1% Mars surface area

patera
domes
Fig.3. Asummary ofthevolcanic
history
ofMars derived
from photogeologic
study.
Theenvelopes
areproportional
inareatothecurrently
exposed
areas
onMars oftherespective
volcanic
units.
Relative
agedata
arederived
from strati-
graphicrelations,
comparisonwith
stratigraphic
dataofScottand Carr
[1978],
and correlation
withthedensity
of4-to!0-
kmcraterswheregooddataareavailable
[Condit,
1978].
There isnoimplication
ofabsolute
timeinthisdiagram.
The
lengths
ofarrows
representing
Martian
geologic
eventsarerelated
touncertainty
intheplacement
oftheeventanddonot
necessarily
indicate
itsduration.
This
diagram
isbasedonasimilar concept
derived
tosummarizelunar
geologic
history
byD. E.WiLlaelms
intheworkofMasursky
etal.[1978].

thoughotherinvestigators
havesuggested features subaqueous
thatsimilar hydrothermal
alteration
in seafloor
spreading
couldbeproduced by nonvolcanic suchasaeolian centers.
processes
erosion[McCauleyet al., 1979]. 2. The materialsconsistof a mixtureof magneticminer-
Morethan22 samples [ClarkandBaird,1979]at bothland- als,powdered pieritebasalt, andleached salts.
ingsiteshavebeencollected andanalyzed by X ray fluores- 3. The materials are derivedfrom ferropicritic
ultramarie
cencetechniques.
In all cases arenearlyidentical lavas from the Martian mantle.
theresults
withtheexceptionof sulfur.TheMartiansamples aregrossly 4. The materialsconsistof a mixtureof finelydividedba-
similarin composition
to lunarandterrestrialbasaltsin that saltic
powder, primitive materialsofplanetary accretion,and
theyappear tobederived frommariesource rocks,
butdiffer- condensates of volatilesreleasedby volcanism.
ences between theplanetsaresignificant
(Table1).Despiteef- Regardlessofinterpretation, allmodelsinvolvemarietoul-
by the Vi- tramafic
fortsto collecta varietyof materialsfor analyses parentmaterials, probably in theformof basaltic
kinglanders it isgenerally
regarded thatnocrystallinerocks rocks.Althoughspectral dataobtained by thelandercameras
havebeensampled butratherthatthesamples of rela- showa varietyof colors
consist in thefinesurface materials
[Hucket
tivelyhomogeneous lumpsof partlyconsolidated,weatheredal., 1977;Jobson et al., 1978],andtheX ray fluorescencere-
soils,an interpretationenhancedby theirlow bulk densities suits
indicate
subtle changes in composition,these
variations
(1.2gcm-3 [Clarketal.,1976]). Analyses ofthemagnetic and do notaltertheinterpretation of theparentmaterialsbeing
physical
properties of thesoilsshowa highproportion of marie to ultramarie volcanic rocks.
magnetic
mineralgrains (probably
magnetiteor maghemite)2. RemoteSensingData
amongthe'fines'at bothsites[Hargraves
et al., 1977,1979],
whichwouldpartlyaccountfor thehighironcontentof the Earth-based
telescopic
observations
of Marsto mapspectral
soils.Clark [1979]summarizes of the regions
four interpretations havebeencarried
outformorethana decade, sum-
compositions
of the samples: marized by Singeret al. [1979].Theseobservations,
princi-
1. The materialsconsistprimarilyof nontronite(an iron- pallyin thevisibleand near-infrared(0.3to 2.6pm),have
rich montmorilloniteclay);on earth,nontroniteis a product beencombined with multispectralimagesobtainedfrom the
of weathering
of marieigneousrocks;althoughrarein the Vikingorbiters
[Soderblom
etal., 19781
to determine
surface
weathering on land,theyarea majorproductof variability
of basalts onasnearlya globalscaleasiscurrently
possible.
18 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

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Fig. 4. Viking Lander 2 imageshowingrocksthat containnumerousvoids;voidshave beeninterpretedas vesiclesin-
dicativeof volcanicorigin and, alternatively,as pits resultingfrom aeolianabrasion;largestrocksin view are about40 cm
across(NASA-IPL PIC ID 77/03/23/031154).

Althoughall spectra by strongFe3+absorp- razzo and Huguenin[1977] basedon a model derived from the
arecharacterized
tions,dark areas(low albedo)showthis effectlessand are in- Viking lander X ray fluorescenceresults,reflection spectros-
terpretedto consistof lessoxidizedmaterials.Dark areasalso copy, and a photochemical weathering model [Huguenin,
showthe greatest internalvariabilityand haveFe2+absorp- 1974]. However, a recent revision in the estimate of the Mar-
tion near 1.0/•m, attributedprimarilyto the presenceof py- tian mantledensity(3.44 g cm-3 [Goettel,1980]would prob-
roxeneswith lessthan 5% olivine [Singer, 1980]. Thus dark ably tend to yield a more terrestriallikemantle mineral assem-
areas are considered to be somewhat oxidized basaltic or ul- blage (Fe-rich lherzolite) producing less exotic basaltic
tramaficrock of regionallyvariablecomposition. Bright areas magmasduring partial melting. This questionwill probably
are consideredto be fine grained assemblages of mineral remain open to debate until the acquisitionof higher-quality
hydrates,ferricoxides,andminoramountsof relativelyunal- remote sensingdata on Martian lava compositions.
tered mafic materials;this would be essentiallythe chemical In summary,severalindependentlinesof evidencepoint to-
and physicalweatheringproductsof basalticor ultramafic ward igneousrock compositionsthat are mafic to ultramafic
parentmaterials(e.g.,materialssampledat the landersites). in character.Global spectralmappingsuggests that dark areas
Thus on a global scalethe dark areas of Mars appear to may representexposuresrelatively free of fine grained aeolian
consistof mafic to ultramaficigneousrockswhoseweathering sediment and that there may be considerablevariation in
productscontributeto the formationof brightregions. compositionwithin the generally iron-rich classes.Bright re-
gions(and bright materialsat the lander sites)appearto con-
3. Compositions
DerivedFrom Geophysical
Modeling sist, in part, of weathered,windblown clay minerals derived
An estimateof the compositionof Martian lavaswas made from the weathering of mafic parent materials;some models
by McGetchinand Smyth[1978]basedon predictedmineral allow the claysto be derived from phreatomagmaticevents.
assemblages
for the Martian mantle.Beginningwith an esti-
C. PHYSICS OF MARTIAN LAVAS
mate for the densityof the Martian mantle given by Reas-
enberg[ 1977]as3.55gcm-3, andwith a 'starting'composition Several studiesin recent years involve attempts to relate
McGet- lava flow morphologyto both rock chemistryand eruption
of pyrolite(basedon terrestrialmantlecomposition),
chin and Smyth used a modified CIPW normative scheme mechanismthrough considerationsof the rheologicalproper-
and added FeO to producethe appropriatedensityfor Mars. ties of the lavas. This technique has great potential in that
The resultingassemblage is not garnet lherzoliteas in the valuable geological and geochemicalinformation may be
earth but is an oxide-garnetwehrlite with no orthopyroxene. gatheredprimarily throughphotogeologic interpretation.This
Partialmeltingof thismaterialwouldproduceiron-rich,ultra- assumes,however,that the physicaland chemicalparameters
mafic lavas of very low viscositiesdescribedby McGetchin controllinglava flow morphologyare well understood.
andSmythaspicriticalkalibasaltsthatwouldhaveeruptedat One of the firstattemptsto relatelavamorphologyto erup-
highratesof effusion
andbeenemplaced asfloodbasalts.
This tion conditions in a quantitative
mannerwasthestudyof ter-
composition is nearlythe sameas that proposedby Made- restriallavaflowsby Walker[1973],whofoundthat although
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 19

TABLE 1. Chemical Compositionof Martian, Lunar, and TerrestrialSamples

Sample*
Oxide, wt. % I 2 3 4 5 6

SiO2 44.7 42.8 44.48 45.03 37.79 49.34

A1203 5.7 n.a. 11.25 7.27 8.85 17.04
FeO ...... 11.38 21.09 19.66 6.82
Fe203 18.2 20.3 3.00 ...... 1.99
MgO 8.3 n.a. 17.32 16.45 8.44 7.19
CaO 5.6 5.0 9.54 8.01 10.74 11.72
K20 <0.3 <0.3 0.40 0.06 0.05 0.16
TiO2 0.9 1.0 n.a. 2.54 12.97 1.49
SO3 7.7 6.5 ............
CI 0.7 0.6 ............
Sum 91.8 n.a. 98.37 100.45 98.50 95.75

Initials n.a. mean not available.

*Samplesare the following: 1, Martian sampleSI, Chryse Planitia [Toulmin et al., 1977];2, Martian
sampleU 1, Utopia Planitia [Toulminet al., 1977];3, model Martian lava, calculatedcomposition[McGet-
chinand Smyth, 1978];4, lunar mare basalt,Apollo 12 olivine normarive 12009[Papikeet al., 1976]; 5,
lunar mare basalt,Apollo 17 high-Ti 70215 [Papikeet al., 1976];and 6, terrestrialbasalt,oceanictholeiite
[Engel et al., 1965].

grosschemistryof lava has someeffecton flow dimensions,it mate of Martian mantle density [Goettel, 1980] and refined
is primarily the rate of effusionthat controlsthe lengths of spectroscopic data for Martian surfacematerials[Singer,1980]
flows,with high eruption ratesproducinglonger flows. These suggestthat Martian lavasare not quite as mafic as suggested
resultswere incorporatedwith generalrheologictheory to the by the McGetchinand $myth [1978] model (approximately 5%
study of the young, well-preservedMare Imbrium flows on versus 40% modal olivine in Martian lavas). However, the
the moon [Schaber, 1973;Moore and Schaber, 1975]. The lu- data are consistentwith lava chemistriesgrossly similar in
nar mare flows are known to be basalticin chemistry,and bulk compositionto lunar mare basalts.Becausethe rheologic
someof their rheologicpropertiesare well definedby studies propertiesof Martian lava flowsappear similar to lunar mare
of returned samples[e.g., Murase and McBirney, 1970]. The lava flows, it may be inferred that the lavas probably have
Mare Imbriumflowsare extremelylong (up to 1200km) and similar viscositiesat extrusion,of the order of 5-10 P at liq-
flowed down a very gentle topographicgradient (-•0.1ø). uidus temperatures[Murase and McBirney, 1970]. These val-
Moore and Schaber[1975] concludethat lunar lavas behave as ues are in agreementwith thosederived by SchonfeM[1979] as
Bingham bodiesin which the yield strengthis an important 3, 5, and 60 P for three flows in Arsia Mons based on esti-
parameter, and this assumptionhas been maintained in the mated ratesof effusionsderived from flow lengths---andyield
studies of lava flows on Mars. strengths.
The earliestrheologicstudyof Martian lavaswasthe analy- The lengths of Martian lava flows are quite variable, with
sis by Hulme [1976] using Mariner 9 data for the Olympus some individual flows being more than 300 km long. Such
Mons flowsthat haveleveedchannels.Althoughdata are poor long lengths strongly suggestextremely high eruption rates
and the estimatesof yield strengthfor theseflowsare crude,it [Walker, 1973] as well as low-viscositymagmas (see section
wasconcludedthat the OlympusMons flowshave flow prop- D2b). On the moon, such eruption conditionstypically pro-
ertiescomparableto lavas slightlymore silicicthan Hawaiian duce featureless, fiat mare flood basalts. On Mars, both flood
basalts,possiblyas high in silica as terrestrial andesites.More lavas and central vent volcanismhave occurredthroughoutits
recentstudiesof Martian lavasusingViking data [Schaberet history, and the presenceof long flows lends support to the
al., 1978]suggestlavasvery similar in rheologicpropertiesto idea of high eruption rates.
the Mare Imbrium flows on the moon, i.e., basaltic lava flows. In summary, the physicalpropertiesof Martian lavas as de-
This is more consistentwith spectraldata and geophysical rived primarily from photographssuggestextensivebasaltic
modeling[e.g., McGetchinand Smyth, 1978] suggestingthe volcanismof a type similar to that seenon the moon. In addi-
predominanceof basalticvolcanismon Mars. One possible tion, some of the unusual Martian central vent flows suggest
problemwith this interpretationis discussed by Moore et al. unique stylesof volcaniceruption not seenin either lunar or
[1978], challengingthe hypothesisthat lava flows behave as terrestrial volcanic complexes.The variety of evidence from
Binghambodies.Becausethe effectsof suchvariablesas pre- photogeologic,geophysicalmodeling and experimental pe-
flow surfaceroughnessand percentageof entrainedsolidsare trology data support the idea that Martian lavas were very
poorly known at best, it seemswise not to take lava flow mor- fluid, comparableto the lunar mare basalts.Detailed analysis
phologicdata too far in speculatingabout the detailsof vol- usingnew Viking orbiter topographicdata currentlybeing de-
canic chemistry.It seemssafe to say, however,that Martian rived [Wu, 1979]will improve our understandingof the phys-
lava flows display rheologicbehavior that is consistentwith ics of Martian lavas and henceour knowledgeof their chem-
generalbasalticchemistry. istriesand probable eruption conditions.
The viscosityof Martian lavasmay be estimatedby several D. PHOTOGEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
indirect means.The petrologicmodelingof McGetchinand
General Statement
Smyth [1978] suggestedthat partial melts of the postulated
Martian mantlewould produceultramaficlavasof extremely Nearly all knowledgeof the geologyof Mars has been de-
low viscosity,lessthan 10 P for Martian lavas,a factor of 50 to rived from photogeologicalstudies.Near-global photographic
100belowterrestrialHawaiian basalts.A recentlyrevisedesti- coverageat moderateto low resolution(-•0.1 to 3 km) was ob-
 20 GREELEY
AND SPUDIS:VOLCANISM
ON MARS

TABLE 2. Classification
andExtentof MartianVolcanicFeatures
Extent Percent Mars
Type Symbol Example Characteristics 106 km 2 Surface
Central Volcanoes
Alba AP Alba Patera unique,extremelylow reliefshield- 1.13 0.78
like volcano;sheetand tube-fed
flows
Highland patera Tyrrhena Patera low relief,degraded,
radiallytextured 0.23 0.16
volcanoes
Shields
OlympusMons broad, moderate relief central vent 1.23 0.85
volcanoes;tube-fed flows
Domes Tharsis Tholus steeper-sidedcentral volcanoes 0.08 0.05
Total central volcanoes
2.67 1.84
Volcanic Plains
Simple flows s HesperiaPlanum regionalplains;wrinkleridgesonly; 42.08 29.22
no flow lobes
Complex flows c Tharsis Plains complex flow units; flow lobes 9.16 6.36
abundant; rarewrinkleridges
Undifferentiated u northernplains plainsof uncertainorigin(flowlobes 27.37 19.00
rare), althoughprobablyvolcanic
Questionable aureole materials modified units associated with 5.92 4.11
volcanic units
Total volcanicplains 84.53 58.69

Total volcanic surface

85.20 60.53
area on Mars

tained by Mariner 9 in 1971-1972which providedthe data provides cluesto thesefactorsandphotogeologicalstudies can

basefor globalstudies,includingthe Mars GeologicalMap- provideinsightintothestylesof volcanism. Thisapproach in
ping Program.This programresultedin the publicationof 30 interpretingvolcanichistory,however,is far from definitive.
1:5,000,000scalegeologicalmapsby the U.S. GeologicalSur- Most terrestrialand lunar volcanicinterpretations basedon
vey and a smaller-scale (1:25,000,000)synopticgeological morphologyhavedealtprimarilywith basalticfeatures;first,
map for the wholeplanet[Scottand Carr, 1978].Most of the becausebasalticvolcanismis predominanton the moon,and
generalapproachand techniquesusedin planetarygeology second,the morphologyof pristinesilicicvolcanicfeaturesis
have come from the studyof the moon. The moon has served verypoorlyknownevenon earth.Most well-preserved silicic
as a goodtraininggroundbecauseit is relativelysimpleas features onearthareof limitedarealextent.Largersilicicfea-
comparedto the larger terrestrialplanets. In addition, we turessuchas extensiveashsheetsare geologically older fea-
have had the benefitof 'field checking'someof the photo- turesthathavebeendegraded anddonotdisplayprimarysur-
geologicalinterpretationsthroughthe Apollo missions.Al- face morphologies. Thus althoughsilicic volcanicfeatures
thoughMars,partlybecauseof its greatersizeand the pres- may occur on Mars, at presentwe do not know their identi-
enceof an atmosphere,is more complexthan the moon, the fyingcharacteristics. A similarproblemoccursin regardto
samegeneralmethodsof studycan be applied. basalticashdeposits. Because basalticashflowsarerelatively
The Vikingorbiterimage.
s providea significant
increase
in rare on earth,we are ignorantof their surfacemorphology;
detail over previousphotographsof the surfaceand allow a yet,suchdepositsmaybe importanton otherplanets,particu-
muchbetterassessment of contactrelationships
betweengeo- larly on Mars, as will be discussedbelow.
logicalunitsandof thegeological processes thathaveshaped Volcanoeson earth typicallyare classified by their mor-
the surface.Consequently, not only is the generalgeology phology(shieldshaped,dome,etc.),the size,shape,and ar-
beingremapped in lightof Vikingdata,butthemajorandmi- rangement of theirvents(e.g.,centralventversus fissure
vent),
norgeologicalprocesses thathaveoperatedon Marsarebeing or on their styleof origin(e.g.,'monogenetic' versus'poly-
reevaluated,including reassessment
of the effectsof volcanic genetic').Because it is difficultand oftenimpossibleto deter
processes
andhistory.Volcanismhasbeendominantthrough- mine ventcharacteristics and mode(s)of origin,classification
out much of the history of Mars; thereforevolcanic features of volcanoes on the moonand planetsis basedon general
and interpretations
of volcanicprocessesare alsobeingreas- morphology.On Mars, this classification is essentially
two-
sessedthroughViking data. Becausethe primarydata baseis fold:centralvolcanoes andvolcanicplains.As thesetermsim-
photogeological,ourapproachmustbebasedon the morphol- ply, central volcanoes include features that involved essen-
ogy of suspectedvolcanic features. tially 'point source' vents around which volcanic materials
The morphologyof volcanoes[e.g.,Macdonald,1972;Cot- accumulated to form shields, domes, and other constructs.
ten, 1969]is the resultof many complexand ofteninterrelated Volcanicplainsincludewidespread, relativelyflat lyingunits,
parameters,which collectivelydefinethe styleof volcanism. with or without flow fronts and with other features indicative
Theseparameters includethe physicaland chemicalproper- of volcanicorigin. Sourceventsfor the plainsare often ex-
ties of the erupting magma and related products,the size, tremely difficult or impossibleto determineand are often as-
shape,and arrangementof the vent(s),the environmentinto sumedto be of the fissure(linearvent)varietyon the basisof
whichmaterialsare erupted,and the topographic and struc- analogywith terrestriallavaflows.Table2 givesthe classifica-
tural settingof the volcanicactivity.Thus the morphology tion schemeemployedfor volcanicfeatureson Mars.
 GREELEYAND SPUDIS:VOLCANISMON ]Mane 21

..

....
"%..,::..;.-•,.;S'"*:'::•
..... ,s-."-•, •ia . '

..... •.•½ ;::;5..;•-.:-.:.

-:-,•;• -•:•.:4•
----'*•..-- ,;::,:.::......•.:,,•% •'½• $ •-'--'

... , •; ..,::,....,
.:.-;-.*-•&
•
..., .......
:.•
'•*...-•..*i;
.'"!• "* '.... , ,..:•*,...........;,...,...½'

Eig.S. Thatsis
Tholes,
a 110x 1701• central
¾ent ¾olcano,
hassteepflanks
andis½la$sitied
asa dome.YoungerlaYa
flowserupted
fromelsewhere
in theregionandpartlyburythedome;thedarkzoneeast(totheright)of thedomeappears
to be a windstreakformedin the lee of the volcano.North is to the top;illuminationfrom the fight (Viking orbiterimage
858A23).

2. Central Volcanoes It was considered,on the basis of analysisof Mariner 9

data,that the heightof centralvent volcanoes
wasinversely
Mariner 9 imagesshowa wide varietyof volcanicand pos- proportional to geologic
age[Carr,1976]basedona modelin
siblevolcanicfeaturesof the centraltype which were initially whichthe lithosphereincreased
in thicknesswith time, gener-
describedprimarily on the basisof their topographicprofiles atinghigherhydrostatic pressures
to forcelavato greaterele-
and include(1) tholii•domes with steepslopes(Figure5), (2) vations(e.g.,the OlympusMonssummitat 27-kmelevation).
shields•the classiccentral volcanoessuch as Olympus Mons It appearsfromVikingdata,however, thatsomeMartianvol-
(Figure6) similarin formto shieldvolcanoes onearth,(3) pa- canoesdo not easilyfit into thisscheme,suchasAlba Patera,
terata collective term for a variety of unusual 'saucer- an extremelylow relief,intermediate agestructurethat pre-
shaped'featuresdisplaying channelsandradialsurfacemark- cludesa simplerelationship betweenvolcanoheightandrela-
ingsand whichoftenhavecentralcalderas(Figures7 and 8), tive age.
and(4) a hostof small(-1 km) positiverelieffeaturesthought Vikingorbiterimagesnowshowfar superior detailfor most
to be cindercones(Figure9) or othersmallvolcanoes(Figure of the volcanicfeaturesthan was first seenthrough Mariner 9.
10).Attemptsweremadeto relatethe morphology of these Not only is it now possible
to analyzethe individualflows
various Martian features to similar appearing volcanoeson composing manyof thesefeatures,butthestratigraphic rela-
earth;thus the Martian shieldswere comparedto shieldson tions of the volcanoesto the surroundingterrain can also be
earth and were interpretedto be composedessentiallyof ba- determined.For example,manyof the featuresnamedpatera
saltic lavas;tholii, being steepdomelikefeatures,were com- and tholii from Mariner 9 imagesare now seento be simply
paredto volcanicdomeson earthandwereconsidered to rep- modifiedor partlyburiedshieldvolcanoes (Table3 and Fig-
resentmore viscouslavas,possiblyof siliciccompositions;the ure 11).Thisposes a dilemmain whichMartiannomenclature
paterahaveno terrestrial(or lunar)counterparts. andgeological classification
areunfortunately
tangled.In the
22 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

...

-'7

Fig. 6. OlympusMons, one of the bestknownshieldvolcanoesin the solarsystem,is more than 600 km acrossand is
nearly completelyencircledby a prominantscarp.High-resolutionViking orbiter imagesshowthat flowseruptedfrom
OlympusMons spilledoverthe scarpand flowedhundredsof kilometersontothe surroundingplains.North is to the up-
per left; illuminationfrom the top (Viking orbiterimage649A28).

strictsense,the termspatera and tholii are applied to features
having a certain form in the same sensethat 'mountains' and
'valleys' are terms applied to landformswithout implications
of geologicalclassification.Thus many Martian featuresfor-
mally namedas pateraand tholii can have markedlydifferent
origins.For example, Orcus Patera appearsto be a highly
modifiedimpactcrater,probablynot involvingvolcanicproc-
esses,while Biblis Patera appearsto be an older shield vol-
cano in the Tharsis region that has been nearly buried by
youngerplains-forminglava flows.
In the followingclassificationschemethe subcategories of
central constructsbegin with low-profile featuresand progress
throughcategorieshaving steeperflank slopes.
a. Alba Patera. Alba Patera (Figure 12) representsan
apparently unique volcanic landform, becauseit has no
known counterparton earth, moon, or Mercury [Carr et aL,
1977;Greeleyet aL, 1978].Thus it constitutesa separateclass
within the central vent volcanoes.Even on the relatively poor
Mariner 9 images,Alba Patera wasseento be more than 1000
km across,making it the largestcentral vent volcano of the
planetsexploredthusfar. Alba Paterais characterized by a set
of ring fractureswhich encircle the central caldera and are
part of a regional,Tharsis-related,NE-SW set of fractures.
Originallycalledthe ArcadiaR.ing [Cart, 1973],the set of
fracturesare formally named Alba Fossaeon the west side
and Tantalus Fossaeon the east side. The ring fractureshave
a diameter of about 600 km, nearly equal to the diameter of
OlympusMons. Mariner 9 imagesshowa suggestion of radial
flows, and becausemost of the fractures were seen to cut the
flows,Alba Patera was interpretedto be a rather old volcanic
feature that had been degraded and tectonically modified.
Cart [1973] suggestedthat it might have been an enormous
shieldvolcanothat had essentiallycollapsedto its presentlow
profile. Evidenceof degradationwas providedby a single
high-resolutionMariner 9 frame which showednumerous
channellike features arrayed in a dendritic pattern, inter-
pretedby many investigators
to be fluvial in origin.Viking
imagesshow that thesechannelsare not fluvial but are lava
channels that reflect preservedflow morphology. Although
Viking imagesconfirmearlier interpretationsthat mostof the
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 23

4,<.f
• ....

Fig. 7. Mosaicof Viking Orbiter I imagesof Tyrrhena Patera,one of the highlandpateraassociated

with the Hellas Ba-
sinin the southernhemisphere
(Viking OrbiterI frames87A12-17).

Alba structure was emplaced prior to tectonic deformation,
some flows are also seento be superposedover the fractures,
indicating that volcanic activity continuedto a minor degree
during and after regional tectonic deformation [Wise et aL,
1979a].
One of the moststrikingaspectsof Alba Paterais the diver-
sity and relative crispnessof the lava flows that make up the
structure.Four main types of lava flows [Cart et aL, 1977] are
identified:(1) tube-fed flows,(2) tube-channelflows,(3) sheet
flows,and (4) undifferentiatedflows.Tube-fed flowsare char-
actorizodby ridgesthat tend to be radial to the center of Alba
Patera.Lava channelsand partly collapsedlava tubes(Figure
13) can be traced down the axes of the flows that were the
main conduitsfeeding the advancingflow from. From terres-
trial and lunar experience,the only commonly erupted lavas
that have rheologicalpropertiesconducivefor lava tubes to
develop are basalts. More silicic lavas are too viscous,and
from observationsof someactive basaltflows,extremelyfluid
lavas also seem not to develop tubes. Rather, lava tubes de-
velop bestin basalticlavas that are erupted over a long dura-
tion but at lower rates of effusionthan those producing flood
eruptions[Greeley,1977].Thus mostterrestriallava tubes de-
velop from point sourceeruptions of basaltic lavas. Appli-
cation of these relationshipsto Alba flows is consistentwith
both the central vent character of the volcano and consid-
eration of the grosscompositionof its lavas. However, the
Alba flows extend over very long distances,the longesttube-
fed flow identified being more than 340 km. The average
width for this and other tube-fed flows is about 8 km and is
remarkablyuniform. This width, however,representsonly the
exposedpart of the flow. From experiencewith terrestrialvol-
canoes,lava channelsand tubes frequently form construc-
tional archesalongtheir axes,principallyby overflow,that act
as topographicbarriers[Greeley,1971].Subsequentflowsbury
the lower flanks of the arch but may not be able to breach the
arch; the same relationshipsappear on Alba Patera (Figure
13), and thereforeit is not possibleto determinethe actual
width (exposedplusburiedparts)of the tube-fedflows.How-
ever, taking the exposedpart of the flowsas a minimum and
estimating the height from grazing sun incidence angles, a
24 GREELEYAND SPUDIS:VOLCANISMON MARS

E
 GREELEY AND
Fig. 8b. Sequentialdiagramof possiblevolcanichistoryfor TyrrhenaPatera,basedon the geologicalmap of Figure8a.
conservative estimate for the volume of the flows can be
made.
Comparingthesevolumesto sometypical ratesof effusion
of basalticlavason earth (Figure 14) givessomeunderstand-
ing of the enormity of the flows on Alba. Keeping in mind
that thereare many flowsthat appearedto be operatingessen-
tially concurrently,either extremely high rates of effusion
musthave beeninvolvedfor the Alba flows,or the eruptions
were of very long duration. From morphological consid-
erationswe favor the latter interpretationbecauseon earth,
high rates of effusion(i.e., flood eruptions)do not produce
lava tubes,at leastnone that are preservedand recognizable.
A longperiodof volcanicactivityis supportedby independent
study of the tectonichistory [Wise, 1976].
Thus we interpret the tube-fed flowson Alba to have devel-
oped throughthe eruptionof basalticlavasof moderate(ap-
proximatelyequal to Hawaiian) ratesof effusionover many
years of activity. Although eruption was nearly continuous,
short periodsof quiescenceprobably occurred,with renewed
activity eruptinglavasdown the sametube systemas in pre-
vious eruptions. From terrestrial analogy, some downward
cutting of the tube systemmay have occurred;temporary
blockagesof closedtubesresultedin bifurcationof the system,
all the while lengtheningand extendingthe flow front.
Some of the tube-fed flows have domes or a series of domes
SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 25
1. ERUPTION THROUGH ICE-SATURATED
UNCONSOLIDATED MATERIALS (MEGA ø
REGOLITH) PRODUCING LARGE VOLUMES
OF PYROCLASTIC DEPOSITS
2. PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF STRUCTURE,
EVIDENCED BY QUASI-CONCENTRIC
TEXTURE IN ETCHED MATERIALS
3. EROSION OF FRIABLE PYROCLASTIC
DEPOSITS
4. PARTIAL BURIAL OF STRUCTURE BY
HESPERIA PLANUM FLOOD LAVAS
5. ERUPTION OF SMALL VOLUME OF LAVA
FROM CENTRAL REGION OF VOLCANO
at the end of the flows. These may result from lava flowing
within the tube systemfrom the vent under hydrostatic load-
ing. At the lower end of the flow the lava may rupture the roof
of the tube as a pseudovent,resultingin local outpouringsof
flows to build up the domes. Similar features have been de-
scribed for lava tube systemsassociatedwith volcanoes on
earth [Greeleyand Hyde, 1972]. Becausemost of the flow was
•ontainedwithinthe tubes,heatlosswasminimal;thusas
long as eruption continuedand a slopeexisted,the tube net-
works would continueto grow. Tube-channel flowsoccurwest
of the ring fracture and in a smaller area north of the ring
fractures.These flows consistof a complex seriesof channel-
fed and tube-fed anastomosingflowswhich representmultiple
flow units.
Sheet flows constitute the most conspicuoustype of lava
flow on Alba Patera. Although most of these flows appear to
originate near the ring fracture, the actual vents for the sheet
flows are not visible and may have been buried by their own
products.Typically, the sheet flows lack flow surface struc-
tures such as lava tubes, lava channels, and flow festoons but
form multiple, overlappinglobes that have fairly level sur-
faces. Their closestanalogs are the Imbrium flows on the
moon and possiblythe flood-type basalts of the Columbia
River Plateau.Sheetflowsare bestdevelopednorthwestof the
ring fracture,althoughthey alsooccurwithin the ring frae-
26 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

b. Highlandpatera. This categoryof central volcano, de-

fined by Plescia and Saunders[1979], includes Tyrrhena Pa-
tera, Hadriaca Patera, the Amphitrites Patera complex, and
possibly a feature in the northern hemisphere informally
:, <. -•, •...:- .•...-.
-.,• • •'-
.... •,. : •,.--...-
• -'..... ,• ' ,. named Tempe Patera [Plesciaand Saunders,1979]. These fea-
turesare all distinguishedby their low profile, radial channels,
and complex central calderas.They are relatively old, and all
• .::•
....... -• -•-" "..-: . • '.X • :"•'• .,: ':'" "- -'"".."•..•"--'- ?:-":' '-
-:' • ......•:'-'
..... O " --, •½'-"'-: ':.': . • -•.... '" ' *'•::
-- -'"' '-g-Y':' '" occur in or near the cratered terrain. Of the features that con-
...; - .., ;•.::.
• ,:•.- . .-'•-..'•:-•...:..:" .....,.::'. ,...•.., .......•. •.. .•-..., .:...
.........
*-:-'.:.'
....ß...., ' :--',. .;•.."7 *'e'•':', *::-.,.•'
-.;.::
:;:
.....:'•-': stitute this group, Tyrrhena Patera (Figure 7) has the best
.......
; : •*"•-...-;:..•
..... .,,. :.,. •...... -•.•.
.... . .
:-.,.?*'..... photographic coverageand can serveas the type example.
Figure 8 is a geological sketch map for Tyrrhena Patera.
•,.-- ...,
-. '..:: .-, " ,, .
4.•'..•,.-;" •'-7 .....
,. - ;-i•.•;.•...•&.:::* ,:--'. ., The oldest photogeologicalunit, termed etched materials, dis-
•... . •;•' ß :•,•... , . • ,• •. .. . ,.--,•: .... •..- ½ , .,•, • .... ....,,; .,..
playsa rough,irregular topographystronglysuggestiveof ero-
'";"_ , ..';...
..,
......•..½•,;
' '....
':..'
•.;-.•"?'.
½....."
*',";.•..;,...•
,.-•-';•:...•:'..:.
.......
.. '-'....:',..4'%,, •';.,•.-•.:½•;;•;•;..,,:'
•....½?".'-:'..;::-::::.-.;•:-;-•':.,.:;-•...:•'.',.
:....t.•,;-•:?•.-.e',:'.:
::;<..'
'..':-•.,•';:.,....';
' ;:,"?:•'.';..
,,:
....•.--
':. .';..-:. sion. This unit is embayed or cut by all other stratigraphic
,,:';•.:-*•:;
:';
';::
........
7•":'";'.'..
:...
'":::½:7..;.?...:...:;.:.•?.:,...:
.4."•
...,.-
....
".•'.•,,;..".½½:.'::;"•,•;:-7::;,;-,
-½2
•"-"-:"•':-.:'
'..'?• units. In one region north of the Tyrrhena structure a con-
...':%'.. ß • .... ......,-% ,':"•
.... . .• .... -:'' •,..',.'%.;.•':'. ¾-•;.c;:-,:-..•..;:-,'..•:• • " ".% •&:-•.• -?.. centric structural grain is evident that is not expressedon the
....% "•-,' .......':;•-;-'7:"
....................
•'""? • •
,--.":-.-e..--. ,
,;. • .'•
• •--½
'.?- :... '..:.;?..--:........,:.•.:..:-
,.*.,.... ½.•;..:,-
..7;:•%.."
............ surroundingplains and which may representthe formation of
•:,-:.-"
...... •;•"-..:-'%
•.:..... ,• , .,. •:
'::.".-.
.....
...
.....
......;,..:..•...•.... ,
,, ,.,..., -"----.
........ -:' ;...
'•...:. ::'•-- ;:,•;-.'..
•:.'.
'..c .4..-:'.. "•.. •-'
•-..•s:.•.., ., ..,,.-....
...-,•,,.•
............ .:..:.........
-½.:......½,-,.•.•
."?'
:'.'..'
'-':
7,•':'%•;
-''".'ß,½
,:...-.....;
..,:
:.?' ,..'...
...•
...•:.. . -;;--•, . . .:•
':;•:"-•½-,•.•!:;:
•''*•'•'-';;'•
%.'.
:.;'
•...½....
•':::"•:-
'•'•
•.... ... -.:...
• ..-.•
:•. -
, . .4..-..•.
.:.-?....
•-•-....•-:-
•.• .-.. -.,- ...*•, • -.:-•:.'-; .
., .•½.•:. •:..
,.•• -.%.:..
,::.
•:• ....
an early caldera. The lower shield materials of Tyrrhena Pa-
tera directly overlie the etched materials. The lower shield
material showsa markedly radial texture resulting from can-
yons that emanate from the center of the structure. On the
basisof their intimate associationwith the volcano and appar-
--•½ ' .•..•-• .• • '-• • ... •';. - ..•r:; .•.::-'•. ½:;........ • •:-,:½-:½ : -...
ent low erosional resistance, both the etched and lower shield
Fig. 9•. Plai•s uMtsin the CydoMaregion(38•N, 12•W) showing materials are interpreted to be ash flows (discussedbelow)
small (approx•ately a few h•dred meters) e•elike features,most
emplaced early in the shield building stageof Tyrrhena Pa-
of which have su•it craters; these and similar features elsewhere o•
Mars are ime•reted by most •vestigators to be pyroclastic•nes of tera. The upper shield materials show a smoothsurface,uncut
volca•c ofigi• (Vi•g Orbiter I bage 72A02). by radial channelingbut containingwrinkle ridgessimilar to
thoseseenon the surroundingplains. This unit is interpreted
ture, where some appear to have ofigMated from the central as lava flowsthat cap the previouslyerupted ash flow deposits.
calderacomplex.A pa•icularly long (more than 2?0 •) flow Although age relations are not clear, the surrounding Hes-
occursM the southwestpa• of the volcano. The relationship peria Planum lava plains were emplacedcontemporaneously
between rate of effusionand length of lava flows (non-tube- with the late stage lavas of Tyrrhena Patera. The sinuous
fed) suggeststhat the sheetflows •volvcd high rates of effu- channelsoriginating near the summit caldera cut all the vol-
sion, perhapscomparable to flood e•ptions. canic units and are interpretedto be lava channelsthat repre-
The remaMder of the flows that make up Alba Patera are
und•½rcntiatcd. Although many of these flows are fed by
tubes and cha•e•, they differ by havMg surfacesof •gged ........ .•.•-:--•-•.•)•.-'.•:;
.... • ......
.:.:•..•• :. '•'•,•'
..•, ---•-•:.c• .•.•.:•::•"4•:
'2"
....:""*"
-•,:•---.--: % '•'-•;"-'•--•:'•"•-••';
.•½ -½.-:.•.-,•- ......... '%•."'.,.. ...........;:. '..•'•.:•
,• .....•:..:.---..•..-.::.
;,.•.•::-....,-
;.:.•:,..;;
. -.• .......
-. .•
,. -.%p½:•:'.. :-'-•-;•?•:.•.• -•.. .-.-:• ........ ...::.:.•. ..... .;-.:
,;½. -•'-•:•-.......;..•......,.•..•..?..--•-•
relief and flow margMsthat are Mdbt•ct. From sup½•ositio• •......-"' ....;:::;•,.,,-.•..
- •.-. ½.:: .•....-..-.,
:.•.:•...• ...•.;.;
ß .. .. ..%•..%?.•;
.....

relations and their degraded appearancethe und•erentiated '• :.---..:7

"'<'?,;.:'::•;'?":"•-"'•:-:-.•-;•';'•,%•.
;.• :,. ;:..-'......... •.• ,.- .
..:'?' "<':':' ....•- ....... '""?:.'..•...•.,• .•.'"..-- ß
•.,
flowsat the distal ½•dsof Alba Pateramay be the oMest flows.
The und•erentiated flows with• the Bg fractures are fresh •.•½,•:•:;;• .......
;• •*'-•-'•..- ..:•.;•: . *$.½ ......•--..,.
- ---.:: ................ :..? •'½.... • .:..•.•
.:,-'.•:....-:•--:•,:
..... .•
---•.•..•:'"•.:4.•- • .'•"'•L•
•-.......
.... ..: ....... ..... . ....... .•:.•..... .....
½:....;;
......
•.,½•,.;..;•:•.---::.•..--•-•
appearing and have well-preserved cha•½ls with
Many of the flowsofigMate from the ccmral camera complex, ..:....... ..•:•; :. . . ..;•.•.............. :•..:'.• ½...... ..... , ...:-:;•.•.•..•.: . -...•%.?•
and some are superposed on the • of the camera; other .... .•.,:;•• ...... •:.....-.,. • :.:.';.......•. • ........ .••.:. -•..-:.•., ...... •.•.•••
'.-:•.... ;:;..-.. -• • •;:•.• '- ' .•_,.r••.•,'.' ..'• •--•-••.•••••'•.•
flows are cut by the caldera fracture, MdicatMg an ½sscntia•y •. . ..•:..,: :.•½., ..:..,..
..,- ,,.....- . .•--,,:-,..,. ..,.• •...,...-... .........
'•.•.$..:•½..•:;.:.?'a
contemporaneouse•ption-caMera foBatio• sequence.Ex- ß.• ..........
•:..:..'-:..•.,
.;•:"• ,.:< :-•..•½•: .:.:• '•••-•••-•..•. e.'•
.•. ,..,;-
:;.; ..........
...:....:
................ ½..;½...
•:•..•:•-• .... .?..:;::.;
•..................
,•.................
•.-•••••••••.•..•-.•
.•.•.•••-•••••:•.•/:&r•:..$.,:•:•
•....... . •:••..•:<• <
cept for the obviousflowsthat ofigMate from the caldera,it is :.:• ,.•.":
............
...:•?_•; • •,
• -••-••••••••..%y, .• '•••*•
not possibleto determMe the source vents for most of the
flows and flow u•its. For such an eno•ous stricture it
.• •'•.'
rather su•fisMg that subsidia• v½•ts are not present, or at
least more obvious.Either the subsidia• veins are buffed by
ß....... *• •: ..,.•..•;:•-'--'..'
. ,.'... -E•½;-•::.:-?:½,.
½.•.....
.................
flows or they do not exbt.
The styles of volcanism representedby the various flows ,. .4•-':.,.
•:,..•
..... r•-....
•$:•,:•
--,-½:½•
' •;......2. -',% ' •%..•:,:•'""
*'<?':':•
'-•..
,:?'•..;'
.;%,..E:;•.-•&;
..•.-.•...-:•
- ' ..
suggestthat Alba Patera Mvolved both flood-type e•ptions
from a central rcgio• and Hawarian stylesover ve• long du-
rations.Toward the end of its volcanicactivity, Alba was sub-
jected to tectonicdeformation related to the presenceof the
Tharsb rise. Whether the cessation of volcanism with the tec-
( .*'.-,:,,•,,,-:;,,-½'"'
......
'•?';:-•*'*'-:-.•
.....-......
*•:;
....":%
..............
...,'**'•-;'7%--•'•
tonic activity is causeor effect cannot be determed. 6iven Fig. 9•. Plai•s in the Cydo•a r•gio• ½0ø•, 9øW) s•ow•g a
the eno•ous volumesof lava composMgAlba Patera and the sinuous c•a•l that may b• a lava chapel analogous to lunar
s•uous dills; the smoothmaterial fla•in• th• chapel and manting
supposedve• long period of volcanic activity, unanswered the adja•nt te•ain •uld b• lava d•positsass•iat•d with the chan-
questionsarise as to the nature of the magma chamber and nel, as obse•ed in lava fiv•rs on each and integrated on the moon
the mechanbm(s)Mvolved M producMgthe magmas. (•ikin• Orbiter I bag• 72A11).
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 27

. ., ,

Fig. 10. Small features(a few kilometersacross)in southernChryse Planitia interpretedto be 'low shields'or small
volcanicconstructs. Theseand similar featuresare at the thresholdof detectionon high-resolutionViking orbiter images,
and their interpretationas volcanicis open to question(Viking orbiter image 6A36).

sent the waning stagesof Tyrrhena shield building. Some of
thesechannelsmay have emplacedlavas in the surrounding
plains.
An interpretationof the volcanichistoryof Tyrrhena Patera
(Figure 8) can be derived from its morphologyand the geo-
logical relationshipsshownon the map. The preemption set-
ting was heavily crateredterrain [Scottand Carr, 1978]on the
outer rim of the Hellas Basin. Following the period of heavy
impact crateringa Martian 'megaregolith'was probably gen-
erated. Integrated networksof fine scalechannelsof probable
fluvial origin suggestthe presenceof surfacewater that sank
into the regolith to produce a substantialgroundwaterzone
[Carr, 1979]. During this stagein the evolution of Mars, heat-
ing, expansion, and mantle differentiation occured [Toksoz
and Hsui, 1978], leading to early stage volcanism. Eruption
throughthe water-chargedregolithwould have resultedin ex-
tensive phreatomagmaticeruptions of ash, the volumes of
which would be dependent upon the magnitude of the
event(s).From lunar experiencethe concentricfracturesgen-
erated by large impact basinsare frequently the loci for vol-
canism. Thus it is reasonableto expect similar vents posi-
tioned around the Hellas Basin on Mars, as proposed by
Peterson[1978a] and shown in Figure 1. However, unlike the
anhydrousmoon, early basin-associatedvolcanism on Mars
probably involved phreatic eruptions.
The continuederuptionof ashfrom essentiallycentralvents
built extensive ash sheets and 'ash shields' around the most
active vents. The emplacementof the ash was followed by agestheyhavenearlythe samegeomorphology
perhapsdue to withdrawal of supportresult- fore consideredto representsimilartypesof volcanism.
partial collapse,.
ing from eruption,and the formationof quasi-concentric
frac-
tures, analogous to caldera formation in terrestrial ash flow
volcanism.
It hasbeenproposed[ReimersandKomar, 1979]that some
of the channelson Tyrrhena Patera are primary features
formed by ash eruptions;however,the mechanicsfor the for-
mation of suchlarge featuresremain open to question.We
prefer to interpret the radial texture of lower shield materials
and 'etched'parts of the ash sheetto be the result of erosion
by wind, water, and masswasting.The large sinuouschan-
nellike structuresoriginatingnear the summit of the volcano
and mergingwith the surrounding plainsare interpretedto be
lava channelsthat have,in part, suppliedsomeof the plains
lavasto HesperiaPlanurn.By thistime,planetaryheatinghad
reacheda high level, and volcanismwas occurringthrough
the eruption of extensiveflood lavas in many parts of Mars
(Figure 3). Flood lavas of Hesperia Planurn encroachedand
partly buriedthe flanksof TyrrhenaPatera,asseenby contact
relations where the flows enter the erosional channels and
other depressions.
The last stagein the volcanichistory of
Tyrrhena Patera is the eruption of a small volume of lava in
the centralregionof the volcano,producingthe uppershield
materials,and lava channelscontinuedto supplyportionsof
the surroundingplains materialsfrom the Tyrrhena summit
region.
Althoughthe relationsof the otherhighlandpateraare not
as clear as those of Tyrrhena Patera, from the available im-
and are there-
28 GREELEY AND SPUDIS.' VOLCANISM ON MARS

TABLE 3. Classification of Named Martian Volcanic Features

Name Location Type Area, 104km2 Note

Alba Patera (1) 40ø, 110ø Alba 113.0 l
Albor Tholus (2) 19ø, 210ø dome 1.94 2
AmphitritesPatera(3) -59 ø,299ø highlandpatera 6.55 3
Apollinaris Patera(4) -8 ø, 186o shield 5.35 4
ArsiaMons(5) -9 ø, 121o shield 33.3 5
AscraeusMons (6) 11o, 105o shield 14.0 5
Biblis Patera (7) 2ø, 124ø shield 1.18 6
CerauniusTholus (8) 24ø, 97ø dome 1.01 2
Elysium Mons (9) 25ø, 214ø shield 13.1 7
HadriacaPatera(10) -30 ø,267ø highlandpatera 9.24 3
HecatesTholus (11) 32ø, 210ø shield 2.59 6
JovisTholus(12) 18ø, 118ø shield 0.29 6
Olympus Mons (13) 18ø, 133ø shield 37.4 5
PavonisMons (14) 0 ø, 113ø shield 15.0 5
'Tempe'Patera(15) 44ø, 63o highlandpatera 1.54 3, 8
TharsisTholus (16) 130,91o dome 1.68 2
TyrrhenaPatera(17) -22 ø,254ø highlandpatera 3.94 3
UlyssesPatera (18) 3 ø, 122ø shield 0.85 6
Uranius Patera (19) 26ø, 93ø shield 2.71 6
Uranius Tholus (20) 26ø, 97ø dome 0.38 2
Numbersin parenthesesafter name are keyedto Figure 1.
IUniquevolcanicstructureon the terrestrialplanets.
2Mayrepresent buriedoldershields
or different
styleof volcanic
activity.
3Interpreted
asashshieldswithlesslavapresent.
4OldestlavashieldrecognizedonMars;occurs onplains/uplands boundary.
5Mainshieldsof the Tharsiscomplex.
6Shieldsthathavebeenpartlyburiedby surrounding plainslavas.
7Slightlysteepersidesthan the Tharsisshields.
Sinformalname,seePlesciaandSaunders [1979].

c. Shield volcanoes. The impressiveshield volcanoesof basedradar data showthe inner zoneto havea gradientof
the Tharsisregionprovided the first clear evidencefrom Mari- 0.01to 0.03witha sharptopographicbreakto thelowergradi-
ner 9 data that volcanismwas important in the evolution of ent (0.002to 0.006)of zone2 [Saunders
et al., 1978].The up-
Mars. This category of volcano is characterizedby central per, steeperzone is characterizedby narrow flowswith chan-
vent(s)often in the form of complexcalderas,and flank slopes nels,the next zoneis composed of relativelywider flowswith
of a few degrees.As is true of shield volcanoeson earth, the
channels, and then as the flowsgradeontothe plains,they
Martian shieldsare composedof hundredsof overlapping spreadstillwiderandthe channelsdisappear.Theseflowsand
flows and flow units, many of which were fed through lava the relationsbetweenmorphologyand slopeare consistent
tubes and channels.The presenceof lava tubesand channels with basaltic volcanism and are observed in the formation of
is often cited as evidencefor rock compositions in the general shield volcanoes on earth.
basalticrange, although in principle, any lava having similar On the basisof analysesof the stratigraphicrelationsand
rheologicalpropertiesto basalt could produce similar mor- relative dating from impact craters,Crumplerand Aubele
phologic features. [1978]proposedan evolutionarysequencefor Arsia Mons as
Martian shield volcanoes occur in three areas: the Tharsis follows:(1) construction
of the main shield(built upon pre-
region,the Elysiumregion(Figure 15), and a regionsoutheast viouslyeruptedlava plains), (2) parasiticeruptionson the
of Elysium (Apollinaris Patera). Even on Mariner 9 images northeastand southwestflanks, (3) volcano-tectonicsub-
the Tharsis shieldswere seen to be enormousby terrestrial sidenceof the summit, producing concentricfractures and
standards,and the Viking pictures show them to cover even graben,and (4) continuedvolcanismalong a fissureor rift
larger areasthan was previouslysuspected(Figure 2). Many zonebisectingthe main shield,floodingthe calderafloor and
of the flowssurroundingthe shieldsare now seento originate coveringpartsof the upper flanks.
from the shields(Figure 16), giving, for example, Olympus Althoughthedetailsof theflowsandthesequence of evolu-
Mons a basal diameter of 600 x 800 kin. In other cases the tion varyfromshieldto shield,all appearto haveundergone a
flanks of some of the shieldsare buried by lava flows from complexhistory,and all sharethe samegeneralmorphology.
youngervolcanoes or from unidentifiedsources. Some of the centralvolcanoesoriginallydescribedas tholii
Arsia Mons displaysrelatively well preservedflow features (domes) andpateracanbereassessed via theimprovedViking
and is coveredby good quality images;it is consideredto be imagesaspartlyburiedor modifiedshieldvolcanoes (Figure
of 'intermediate'age [Plesciaand Saunders,1979].As such,it 11). For example, BibIls Patera and Uranius Patera in the
can be taken as a type example Martian shieldvolcano.Arsia Tharsisregion are probably older shieldvolcanoesthat have
Mons displaysa multiple-slopeprofile [Carr et aL, 1977]con- beenmostlyburiedby subsequent
eruptions
from adjacent
sistingof a steepinner zone extendingfrom the caldera out- volcanoes,
leavingonly the steeper,upperflanksof the shield
ward to 400 km, a secondzone having a gentler slopeand ex- exposed.Similarly, the flanks of Jovis Tholus have been bur-
tendingan additional400 kin, and then a broad,relativelyflat ied, leavingonly the domelikeupperpart exposed.
Thus cau-
zonethat mergeswith the surroundingvolcanicplains.Earth- tion must be exercisedwhen interpretingcompositions of
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 29

Fig. 11. Ulysses Patera,situated

at 2øN, 122øW,is a nearlyburiedshieldvolcano;exposed shieldvolcanoes on earth
andMars oftenhavean 'upperstory'summitregionsurrounded by relativelysteeperslopesthan thosethat makeup the
lowerpartsof thevolcano. Floodingof thevolcanoby youngerlavaflows,asseenhere,buriesthelowerflanksbut leaves
the upperportionexposed.Someinterpretations of volcanicstylebasedon ratiosof calderadiameterto volcanowidth
weremadepriorto the recognition of theseburial relationships
and mustbe reevaluated.The occurrence of two largeim-
pactcratersonthesummit(butwhoseejectaisalsoburied)attests to thegreatageof thevolcano.Ulysses Pateraisconsid-
eredto represent earlystagecentralvolcanismin the Tharsisregion.The circularoutlineof the calderaand the apparent
lackof multipleflowsonthefloorsuggest a simplerhistorythanthehistories of theyoungerTharsisshields;notethe small
collapse
pitandrowofpossible
cindercones
onthefloor.Areashown
isabout170kmx 190km(VikingOrbiter2'image
49B85•).

Martian lavas on the basis of volcano profile. Steep slopes
could resultfrom one or more of the following factors:(1) in-
creasedproportionof pyroclasticsin relation to lavas,(2) de-
creased rate of effusion, producing relatively shorter lava
flowsthat would tend to pile up as steeper-profiledconstructs,
that producemore viscous tion, two of the shields,Olympus Mons and Apollinaris Pa-
and (3) more siliciccompositions
flows.
Variations other than flank profile among the shield volca-
noesinclude the complexityof the central caldera,from rela-
tively simple, such as UlyssesPatera, to complex,such as
OlympusMons (Figure 17),and the degreeof tectonicmodifi-
cation,as with the complexring grabenand fracturesof Pa-
vonis Mons. Preservationof surfacetexturesrangesfrom the
relativelyfreshflowsof OlympusMonsto the degradedflanks
of Apollinaris Patera. Despite these variations,all features
classified as shield volcanoes are considered to represent a
styleof volcanisminvolving(1) a centralventsystemthat pro-
ducedmultiple flow units, often fed throughlava tubesand/
or channels,(2) lavasthat had rheologicalpropertiessimilar
to fluid varieties of basalt (i.e., pahoehoe), and (3) minimal
pyroclasticactivity, at leastin the shield-buildingstage.Many
of the Martian shieldswere subjectedto tectonic deformation
(principallysummitcollapse)in the waningstagesof eruption,
possiblyrelatedto emptyingof the magmachamber.In addi-.
tera, display basal scarpsthat cut the main structure. In the
caseof Olympus Mons, somelater volcanicflowshave buried
partsof the scarpnortheastand southwestof the volcano.The
Olympus Mons scarpmay be related to erosionof friable ash
flows beneath the shield lavas [King and Riehle, 1974], erosion
of a megaregolithsubstrate[Head et al., 1976],initial eruption
of lavas beneath an ice sheet,producing a large 'table moun-
taM' [Hodgesand Moore, 1979],or to general tectonic defor-
mation associatedwith the Tharsisupwarp. The megaregolith
erosionmodel of Head et al. [1976] may be particularly appli-
cable to Apollinaris Patera, which is situated astride the
northern-southernhemisphere scarp, a place where it is be-
lieved that ancient terrain has been gradually eroded away.
30 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

Fig.12.•haded
airbrush
relief
mapofAlba
Patera
(see
Figure
1forlocation).
Sequences
offlows
can
betraced
more
than 1500km from the eruptioncenter,making it the largestcentralvolcanoknown on Mars, the moon, earth, or Mercury.
ßAlthoughsomeof the youngestflowsare superposedover the ring fractures,mostof the fracturescut the flows,indicating
that mostof the eruptivehistory occurredprior to tectonicdeformation.(Basemap from the U.S. GeologicalSurvey.)

d. Dome volcanoes. Dome volcanoes,commonly named
tholii on Mars, are characterizedby steeperslopes(Figure 5)
than are the shield volcanoes; in some cases,flanks exceed 8 ø
in slope. The markedly greater slope of the domesin com-
parison to the shields is attributed to more viscous lavas,
higher proportion of pyroelastics,lower rates of effusion, or
somecombinationof thesefactors,reflectinga somewhatdif-
ferent styleof eruption from that involvedin the formation of
the shields.
The surface texture of the domes ranges from relatively
smoothand featureless,suchas Tharsis Tholus, to high-relief
lava flows(somewith lava channels)as on CerauniusTholus.
Nearly all of the features in this categoryhave been partly
buried by younger lava flows erupted from adjacent lava
plains vents or mantied by younger depositsof nonvolcanic
origin, suggestingan older geologicalage for the domes. In-
cluded in this category are various featuresthat are possible
compositecones,such as the feature identified in the Aeolis
region [Greeleyand Spudis, 1978].
e. Miscellaneouscentral vent volcanoes. Many areas on
Mars outsidethe better known regionssuchas Tharsisdisplay
features suggestiveof central volcanoes,including the Cy-
donia Mensae area [Hodges, 1979], Tempe region [Hodges,
1980],southwestUtopia Planitia [Woronow,1980],and others.
The features include fields of probable cinder conesnear the
margins of the Hellas and Isidis bains [West, 1974; Greeley
and Spudis,1978; Wood, 1979], table mountains [Hodgesand
Moore, 1979], and other structuresresulting from phreato-
magmatic eruptions [Frey et al., 1979;Allen, 1979]. As more
high-resolutionimages become available for parts of Mars,
more of the smallerfeaturesof probableand possiblevolcanic
origin are identified. Our mapping does not include all of
thesefeatures,but someof the representativeforms are shown
in Figures 9 and 10 and briefly discussed.In addition, some
parts of Mars appear to have been modified by volcanicand
volcano-tectonicprocesses.For example, the floors of some
impact cratersmay have been intruded by magma,producing
uplifted floor-fracturedforms [Schultz,1978].
3. Volcanic Plains
Vast expansesof Mars are smoothon a kilometerscale,and
plainsof all typescomposemore than 60%of the surfacearea.
It was recognizedfrom Mariner 9 data that many of these
smooth regionsare of volcanic origin, although unequivocal
photogeologic evidencefor a volcanicorigin (e.g.,flow lobes)
is present only in a few locations.This lack of evidenceis
partly a function of age and erosionbut is mostly related to
the style of plains emplacement.
Severalcriteria are usedto classifyplains on planetary sur-
faces as volcanic lava flows. Ideally, returned samplesfrom
geologicallyknownareaswill enabledeterminationof the ori-
gin of plains units. In the absenceof samplereturn, morpho-
logic featurespermit the identificationof someplainsunits as
volcanic with varying degrees of confidence.These include
lava flow fronts, embayment relations suggestingfluid em-
placement,and mare-type'wrinkle' ridges.All of thesefea-
tures are equivocal,however, and confidencein identification
of these plains as volcanic decreaseswith decreasingoccur-
rence.Although most controversialof the indicators,the pres-
ence of mare wrinkle ridges is frequently used to infer a vol-
canic origin for Martian plains (for example,Carr [1973] and
others).There is still no general consensusas to how or why
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 31

mare-type wrinkle ridgesare confinedexclusivelyto mare ba-

salt units; where the ridgescrossinto the highlands,they have
a simple scarplikesurfaceexpression.The surface morphol-
ogy of ridgeson plainsis probablya resultof the mechanical
propertiesof the rock substrata:mare basaltsare brittle, com-
petent,well-lithifiedstrata,whereashighlandunitsare typi-
cally fragmental, brecciated debris. Thus the presenceof
mare-type ridges can be used to infer the presenceof com-
petent, brittle rocks.In the absenceof sedimentarydiagenesis
this leads to a volcanic or impact melt origin for plains that
contain ridges.An impact melt origin is unlikely for plains of
regionalextentand unrelatedto large impact features,and so
theseplains are consideredto be volcanic.In support of the
useof wrinkle ridgesas indicatorsof volcanicrocks,it is noted
that the material filling the calderas of the large Martian
shield volcanoes(which is almost certainly lava) has well-de-
veloped wrinkle ridges (Figure 17). It is conceivable (but
highly unlikely) that some sedimentary diagenetic process
could be responsiblefor generatingregional depositsof flat
lying sedimentarystrataon Mars. Lucchittaand Klockenbrink
[1979], however, note the absenceof ridges in areas of pre-
sumedsedimentarylayerssuchas in the canyon floors.None-
theless,the conclusiveidentification of vast expansesof Mar-
tian plains as volcanic is open to question.
The volcanicplainsof Mars have beencategorizedinto four
broad groupsbasedon surfacemorphology:simple, complex,
undifferentiated,and questionableflows. We emphasizethat
Fig. 13. Mosaicof the westflank of Alba Paterashowingvarious
like volcanic plains classificationson earth, individual map-
tube-fed(T) and sheet(S) flows.North is towardthe right (part of Vi- ped regionson Mars may containmorethan one type of unit;
king orbitermosaic211-5065B). the categoryinto which the region is placed is basedon the
prevailingunit it contains.Thus some 'simple' flow plains
the ridgesform on the planets(alsoseenon the moon,Mer- may have elementsof complexflowspresentbut only in rela-
cury,and possiblyearth), and thereare argumentsto support tively minor amounts.Each is discussed
separatelyin the fol-
both tectonicand volcanichypothesesfor someridgesas re- lowing section.
viewedby Lucchitta[1976].Mare-typewrinkleridgesdisplay a. Simpleflows. Simple flow plains display low relief,
a broadarchuponwhicha crenulatedupperportionis super- uniform regional extent, and numerous mare-type wrinkle
posed.It has long beennoted,however,that on the moon, ridges.The type area for simpleflowsis in HesperiaPlanum,

TUBE
FLOW
(b) SHEET
FLOW

V = 7480 km3

V = 616 km3

RATES:Hawaii10-2km3 / day/km ve•t

RATES:Hawaii
10'2 km3 / day/ kmvent
(From Swansonetal, 1975)
Wash.
1 km
3/ day
/kmve•t (From
Swanson
etal.,1975)
Wash.100km3 / day/ km-vent

RATE••
1km 10
km 100
km
HAWAII 169 yr•. 16.9 yr•. 1.69 yr•.

RATE••
1km 10
km 100
km WASH. 1.69 yr•. 61.6 days 6.16 days
HAWAII 2049 yrs. 205 yrs. 20.5 yrs.
,,

WASH. 20.5 yrs. 2.05 yrs. 75 days

Fig. 14. Requirederuptiontimesat varyingratesfor the two primarytypesof Alba Pateralava flows.(a) The stylized
geometry of a typicalAlbaPaterasheetflowasmappedonthesouthwest flankof thevolcano.Shownisthedurationof the
sheetflow eruptionbasedon a simplelinear vent of 1-, 10-, and 100-kmlengthfor Hawaiian and ColumbiaRiver plateau
eruptionratesfrom Swanson et al. [1975].(b) The styltzedgeometryof a tube lava flow on Alba Pateraand typical em-
placementtimesfor a simplelinearventof 1, 10,and 100km for Hawaiianand ColumbiaRiver plateaueruptionrates
from Swansonet al. [ 1975].
32 GREELEY AND SPUDIS' VOLCANISM ON MARS

½
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 33

1978]suggeststhat the presenceof flow lobesis an indicator of

mode of emplacementrather than a result of erosionand age.
These plains have been called complex flows to distinguish
them from the previouslydiscussedsimpleflows,and they ap-
pear to result from a style of volcanisminvolving more pro-
tracted, sporadic,and lower rates of effusion.Although these
flowsare flood lavasin the senseof a relatively high (in com-
parison to Hawaiian, shield-buildingrates) eruption rate from
a linear vent system,they are composedof compound, over-
lapping flow units of variable thicknessand extent and are
analogousto the compound flow (multiple-coolingunits)
units of Walker [1972].
Complex flows occur in numerousplaceson Mars but are
much more limited in areal extent and in time than the simple
flows.Small regionsof older (lower Hesperian)complex flows
may be identified around the margins of the Helles Basin, but
they appear to play a minor role in the general basin-filling
process.The major occurrenceof complexflowsis in associa-
tion with the two major volcanic-tectoniccomplexesof Mars,
the Tharsis and Elysium regions.In the Elysium region, com-
plex flows make up most of the basal plains of the complex
and typically embay the shieldsHecatesTholus (Figure 15)
Fig. 16. Viking orbiter image of the northeast flank and basal and Elysium Mons. The Tharsis plains contain some of the
scarp of Olympus Mons showing leveed lava channels and flows most spectacularcomplex flows seenon the planet, with high
draped over the scarpand flowing onto the surroundingplains [from densitiesof lava flow lobes of various lengths, heights, and
Carr eta!., 1977]. Area shown is about 80 km x 80 km (Viking Or- widths. Extensive study of these flow scarpsprovidesmost of
biter 2 image 47B25).
the rheological data currently available for Martian lavas
[Schaberet al., 1978].
where the plains units appearto consistof a thick sequenceof Although complexflowshave occurredthroughoutMartian
lavas. In some areas, circular wrinkle ridge structuressuggest history,mostare of late (Amazonian) age.We interpretthis as
buried or floodedcrater rims (Figure 18). Simple flows were being indicativeof a gradual changein the styleof plainsvol-
probablyemplacedas floodlavas,extrudedat extremelyhigh canism on Mars with time and consistentwith a decreasing
ratesthroughlong fissurevent systemsthat spreadrapidly to magma supply rate, sincethe cooling, thickening lithosphere
resurfaceextensiveregions.Suchflowson earth typically form preventsthe releaseof large volumesof lava that would tend
deep'ponds'in low lying areasand lack apparentflow surface to produce simple flows upon reaching the surface, as was
features such as lava channels and lava tubes but can show widely prevalentearly in Martian history.
buried topographyresultingfrom differential settling as the c. Undifferentiatedfiows. Plains on Mars that lack wide-
lava cools.On Mars, wrinkle ridgeseither may be contempo- spreadfeaturesindicativeof volcanismbut which have a few,
raneouswith the flows, indicated by draping of buried crater scattered features such as flow lobes are classified as undiffer-
rims, or may have developedin responseto regionaltectonic entiated flows. This category is loosely defined and may in-
stresspatternsat sometime after lava emplacement,as seenin clude plains related to aeolian or periglacialprocesses, partic-
Lunae-Sinai Planum [Lucchittaand Klockenbrink, 1979]. We ularly in northern latitudes. This classification includes
considerlarge portions of Martian plains that display only numerousplains regions that are rather nondescriptbut are
wrinkle ridgesto be simpleflowsin the senseof Walker [1972] consideredto be of probable volcanic origin on the basis of
in that they representhigh-volume, single-coolingunits of geologicsettingand proximity to other well-definedvolcanic
great extent. regions.Therefore the inclusionof this categoryin estimates
Simple flowsappearto be primarily important as basin-fill- of volcanic areas should be made with caution, since it is diffi-
ing and highland-resurfacing materials.All of the large Mar- cult to assessthe degree with which the assignmentof a vol-
tian impact basinssuchas Hellas, Argyre, and Isidis are rifled canic origin for someof theseplains is justified.
with simple flows. In addition, large, relatively flat lying re- The northern plains of Mars constitute most of this class
gionsof the southerncrateredterrain hemispherehave been and presenta particular problem, but they are consideredvol-
resurfacedby simpleflows throughoutMartian history. Thus canic by most investigators [e.g., Guest et al., 1977; Scott,
although theseflows are analogousin morphologyand erup- 1979]. In general, these plains possessfew of the criteria for
tion style to lunar mare basalt flows,they also have been tm- volcanicplains. Either theseplains never had the typical Mar-
portantagentsin the volcanicresurfacingof the Martian high- tian lava plains morphology, or they have been extensively
landsand appearto representan areally significantfraction of modified by processespeculiar to high northern latitudes such
the Martian surface. as periglacial processes[Carr and Schaber, 1977]. In several
b. Complexflows. Numerousplainsunits, particularlyin places,wrinkle ridgesand occasionalflow lobesare seen,as in
the vicinity of the Tharsisupwarp, display a complexof over- the Ismenius Lacus region [Lucchitta, 1978]. Although this is
lapping flow lobes but typically lack wrinkle ridges (Figure not conclusiveevidencefor a volcanicorigin for all the north-
19). Theseincludemostof the youngestlavason Mars, but the ern plains, we considerthat the vast majority of these plains
fact that small regionsof flow-lobedlava plainscan be identi- are at least underlain by volcanic substrata.This problem is in
fied alsoamongthe oldestplainson Mars [Greeleyand Spudis, part linked with the generalproblem of the northern-southern
34 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

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--:;-". • -,;:.-;•'. -•.½:..•-
.'-•'-' •:-o ß. '*.,': % '..':::
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Fig. 18a. 'Simplelava flows,'in HesperiaPlanum,showingtypicalsurfacewith numerousmare-typeridgesand pos-
sibleburiedcraters;
theseflowsareinterpretedto havebeeneruptedasfloodlavasthatproducedthick,pondedunits.

hemispheredichotomy[e.g.,Malin et al., 1978],and the final i.e., volcanic and aeolian, may be comparable. Thus we sug-
resolutionof that general problem is probably not immedi- gestthat someof the texturesobservedin the northernplains,
ately forthcoming. previously proposedas resulting from modification, may be
Some of the unusual surface textures exhibited in the north- primary lava flow surfaces.
ern plains have been attributed to periglacialprocesses, or Undifferentiated flows also occur around the margins of
other processes that have modifiedthe basicdeposits.How- some of the major volcanic complexessuch as Tharsis and
ever, someof the texturesdescribedas modified may in fact Elysium(Figure 2). Althoughunequivocalevidencefor a vol-
representprimary lava flow textures.Figure 20 showssomeof canicorigin for theseplainsis lacking,there is no compelling
the Martian texturesin question,comparedto lava flow tex- evidence for an origin by other processeseither. Becausein
ture at the Amboy lava field. The terrestrialexampleconsists many regions the plains grade into surrounding units con-
of numerousbasalticflow lobes,tumuli, and depressions giv- fidently identified as volcanic, it is inferred that the vast ma-
ing a local surfacerelief up to l0 m; low lying areasare filled jority of theseplains are related to the generalvolcanicresur-
with windblownsedimentsto producea mottled appearance. facing associatedwith the constructionof the major volcanic
Although differentfrom Mars in scale,the generalprocesses, centers.The age relationshipsof these peripheral plains tend
36 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

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. • e. ...-:• :...-•::-.::
•. -• •, ,• . •. , -. ,...,. ;, =..:••- - • -. , . ,::. :• •:....
.. - . ....:•' .....
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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Fig. 18b. 'Plateau plains' units near the Argyre Basin.

to supportthis interpretation,sincemost appear to be syn- Elysium complexand have been modified by complextec-
chronouswith the confidentlyidentifiedvolcanicplains. tonic and channelingprocesses.
In analogywith the undiffer-
d. Questionableplains. Questionable plains include entiated plains discussedabove, theseareas are consideredto
units extensivelymodified by erosion,fracturing,and mass be volcanicon the basisof proximity to surroundingElysium
wastingprocesses. Someof theseunits, suchas heavily frac- lava flows.
tured plainsperipheralto the Tharsisupwarp,are almostcer- Becausequestionableunits are typically so heavily modi-
tainly oldervolcanicplainsunitsthat havebeenmodifiedby fied as not even to permit the gatheringof crater statistics,in
faulting.Otherssuchas the enigmaticaureoledepositsof the many casestheft relative agesare unknown. The uncertainties
Tharsis volcanoes[Hodgesand Moore, 1979; Lopeset aL, in age and the uncertaintyof volcanicidentificationhave pre-
1980]are of more uncertainorigin and could includevolcano- cluded the inclusionof this unit on the volcanichistory dia-
clastic debris, such as mud and ash flows. The surface mor- gram (Figure 3).
phologyof suchrocksas seenfrom orbit is simply unknown, In summary, plains constitutethe majority of the surface
and many of the plainsincludedin this categorymay not be unitsonMars(Table2').Evenif plainsin theundifferentiated
volcanic.Conversely,this categorymay containvolcanicma- and questionablecategoriesare excludedfrom the sequence,
terialsthat are not lavas,suchasthe finelysculptureddeposits volcanicplains are by far the predominantvolcanicfeatureon
southwestof OlympusMons that may be ashdeposits[ Ward, Mars. Furthermore,many of the other plainson Mars may be
1979]. depositsof volcanicash.The possibilityof phreaticactivityon
Numerous areas of questionableplains occur around the Mars, given the presenceof water in the regolith and/or on
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 37

.•. <:. .......•::

..• ,.•. --,•. :...
,.::.-'.:;

., .,
..,.:
......
:,.
.,•..
ß

... ..,-:-•. .:....•!;.-

..
•.;j- .,
•:-: .......... -•: ;.,: ;".,..:..::.,.;
!.?--

Fig. 19. Type area for 'complexflows'(Tharsisregion;-6 ø, 131øW) displayinghigh densityof overlappinglava flow
lobes. Albedo markings are probably due to aeolian sediment.Area shown is 190 x 220 km (Viking Orbiter 2 'frame
42B32).

the surface,has been previouslydiscussed[e.g., King and Carr, 1978]basedon Mariner 9 imagesand early Viking data.
Reihle, 1974], and Viking resultshave enhancedthe possi- We point out that Viking image resolutionand quality are not
bility. Thus it is likely that extensivevolumesof ashhave been uniform over the planet and the identification and mapping of
producedin the history of Mars. Unfortunately, photogeo- volcanic featuresis largely a function of the coverage.Me-
logic and other remote sensingcriteria for the recognitionof dium-resolution (-•50 m/pixel) images were used in most
ash depositshave not been establishedbut remain an area for cases,supplementedby higher-resolutionpictures for detail.
future research. Furthermore, the mapping consistsmostly of large-scale fea-
tures and does not include detailed mapping of all small fea-
E. VOLCANIC HISTORY
tures such as individual cinder conesand possibletable moun-
Using the classificationschemedescribedabove, volcanic taMs. The northern plains of Mars constitutethe largest area
features on Mars were mapped at a scale of 1:25,000,000 us- not having goodquality images,and consequently,the knowl-
ing Viking orbiter images.This mapping(Figure 2) is an up- edge of their history is very poor.
date of earlier mapping [Spudisand Greeley,1977;Scott and Relative dating of the mapped volcanic featuresand terrain
38 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS

Fig. 20a. Portionof the Martian northernplainsnearViking Lander2 siteshowinghummockysurfacethat may repre-
sent a primary volcanicsurfacesimilar to that shownin Figure 20b (area shown is about 100 km across;Viking orbiter
mosaic211-5072,part).

is basedon superposition,crosscuttingrelations,and the num- should be noted that the original extent of theseplains was
ber of superposedimpact craters.These are keyed to the for- probably much greater than is currently exposed,in part ow-
mal time-stratigraphicsequencederived by Scott and Carr ing to burial by youngerflowsin the southernhemispherebut
[1978] for Mars: the Amazonian system(youngest),Hesperian alsoto the obliterationof the crateredterrain by a processstill
system(intermediate age), and Noachian system(oldest).Cra- obscurein detail. These episodesof extensivevolcanismover-
ter frequencydistributionsare derived primarily from Condit lapped in time with extensivefluvial activity, as evidencedby
[1978] and are basedon cratersin the 4- to 10-km-sizerange. the abundant small channel networkspresentin the Martian
The rationale is that cratersof this size are large enoughto be cratered terrain [Pieri, 1976].The overlap of volcanic and flu-
visible despiteweathering and erosionbut still small enough vial activity would strongly favor the production of pheato-
to allow sufficientlylarge numbers to be statisticallysignifi- magmatic activity. Thus some of the extensiveolder undiffer-
cant over large areas. Crater countsfor the central vent volca- entiated and questionableplains may be ash sheets.Highland
noes are from Plescia and Saunders [1979]; however, caution patera (hp), interpreted here as partly ash shields, are also
must be exercisedin interpreting the results, since the areas contemporaneouswith the plateau plains. As noted pre-
'counted' for each volcano are very limited. viously, the highland patera are concentratedprimarily near
The volcanic history of Mars is summarizedin Figure 3. In the marginsof the Hellas Basin,possiblyrelated to ring frac-
this diagram the relative amounts of the planet covered by tures, and all are located in the cratered southern uplands
volcanic materials during a given stratigraphicinterval in the hemisphere.
geologic past are representedby envelopesthat have areas After mostof the plateauplainsactivity had subsided,mas-
proportionalto the currently exposedareason the planet as a sive flood volcanism (S2, C,) was active over much of the
function of relative time. Therefore these estimates should be planet, resurfacingareasin Lunae Planum, Hesperia Planum,
consideredminimum valuesin that portionsof the older units and large parts of the northern hemisphere(u). During this
may be buried by younger units and/or destroyedby ero- epoch the northern-southernhemisphereerosional scarp be-
sional processes. It is evident that volcanismof one type or an- gan forming, a processthat probably continued well into the
other has been active throughoutthe history of Mars. Hesperian age. Volcanism leading to the formation of the
The oldest units that are identified as volcanic on Mars are Alba Patera structure(AP) alsobecameactive,possiblyowing
the plateau plains (S, [Wilhelms, 1974; Greeleyand Spudis, to structural fracturing in the lithosphere antipodal to the
1978]). These plains take the form primarily of simple lava Hellas Basin [Peterson,1978b]. This volcanic center was to re-
flows, with flow fronts rarely being present.The bulk of these main an activecentral vent volcanoduring most of Hesperian
flows were extruded more or lesscontemporaneouslywith the time. Basin-filling by simple flood lavas also began in this
final stagesof heavier bombardment,but mostappearto post- epoch,as evidencedby extensiveflowsin the SyrtisMajor Ba-
date the major impact basins Hellas, Argyre, and Isidis. It sin. Although these are the only lower Hesperian basin-fill
 GREELEY AND SPUDIS: VOLCANISM ON MARS 39

Fig. 20b. Hummockybasaltsurfaceat Areboy, California (Mojave Desert);flow surfacesof this type resultfrom nu-
merous,coalescinglava 'toes' and 'tongues'to producelocal relief up to 10 m; although about an order of magnitude
smallerin scale,this primary flow surfacemay be similar to surfacetexturesseenin parts of the northernplains of Mars.
(U.S. Department of Agricultureaerial photographAXL-1K-7$.)

lavas currently exposed,it is likely that all the major basins F. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
were undergoingsubsidenceand volcanic filling at this time. The volcanic history of Mars spansnearly the entire 'vis-
Most basin-filling activity was essentiallycompletedby late ible' history of the planet from the very earliest episodesof
Hesperiantime. These plains (S3) coveredthe interiorsof the heavy impact cratering through to some of the youngestfea-
Argyre, Hellas, Isidis, and Chryse basins.This was a period tures, excludingthe polar region and the currently active aeo-
when most of the northern plains had been emplacedand the lian features.The stylesof volcanismrepresentedand the vol-
rate of resurfacingby volcanismhad becomegreatly reduced. canic processesinvolved in the formation of the volcanic
It is also evident that central vent volcanism was becoming features are much more complex than those interpreted for
more predominantwith the formation first of the Elysium vol- the moon and Mercury and may equal those of earth.
canic centers and the early proto-Tharsis upwarp. The Ely- Most of the volcanic activity on Mars appears to have in-
sium centerconsistsof centralvolcanoesand a seriesof simple volved eruption of mafic to ultramafic lavas--most probably
and complexlava flows,structurallyuplifted to produceradial basaltic.Evidence for this compositionis derived from Viking
fracturing of a, by then, rigid lithosphere.This basic structure lander results, remote sensing,and interpretations of land-
also appliesto the proto-Tharsisvolcanic center [ Wise et al., forms. Unlike the moon, where linear vents and flood-style
1979b],although theseunits are now almost totally buried by volcanism predominates, Martian volcanism involves both
youngervolcanic flows. linear vents and central vents that lead to the formation of ex-
The Amazonis system is primarily associated with the tensivelava plains and a variety of central volcanoesranging
Tharsis volcanic center. Both central (sh, d) and plains (C•) from extremely low profile form through classicshield volca-
volcanismwas important in constructingthis vast volcanic re- noes and steep-sideddomes.
gion composed of shield volcanoes, domes, and complex Evidence for phreatomagmatic activity includes both
flows. It appearsthat the bulk of volcanic activity was essen- photogeologyand compositionalconsiderations.Many of the
tially completed in early Amazonis time and the extremely central volcanoesappear to be underlain by easily eroded ma-
youngflows(as determinedby low craterdensities[e.g.,Scha- terial interpreted by many investigatorsto be ash. Proposed
beret al., 1978]) constitutea very small fraction of the Mar- sequences
of formationoften beginwith e.ruptionsof magma
tian surface. throughwater-saturated
megaregolithmaterialsto produce
The volcanichistoryof Mars as outlinedaboveis consistent ash deposits.With time, presumably the megaregolith is de-
with a moonlikethermalhistoryinvolvinghigh ratesof vol- pleted in water near vent eruptivesites,and the volcanicactiv-
canicactivityearlyin Martianhistory,graduallydecreasing
in ity transformsto effusionof lavas to build shield or dome vol-
volumeof extrusionwith a presumably cooling,thickening canoes.The interpretationof dust in the atmosphereand the
lithosphereas the planet evolved. finesat the Viking landing sitesas being composedpartly of
40 GREELEY AND SPUDIS.' VOLCANISM
palagonitelendscredenceto the possibilityof extensiveMar-
tian phreatomagmaticactivity.
Despite the advancesin knowledgeand the growth in the
data baseas a consequence of the Viking mission,there re-
main a great many questionsregardingMartian volcanism:
1. What is the range of compositionsof Martian volcanic
rocks?Although substantialevidencepoints toward basaltic
volcanism, do intermediate and silicic volcanoes also occur?
2. What is the range of absoluteagesof Martian Volca-
noes?Although earliestvolcanismoccurscontemporaneously 1973.
with the late stageheavybombardment,typicallyacceptedas Carr, M. H., The role of lava erosion in the formation of lunar rilles
and martian channels,Icarus, 17, 1-23, 1974.
--4.0 aeons,what is the youngestvolcanism?Is volcanismcur-
rently active?
3. Are ash flows (basaltic, silicic, etc.) present on Mars?
Despiteindirectevidence,photogeological criteriafor the rec-
ognition of ash flow of any compositionhave not been de-
fined for earth, let alone Mars; yet the identification of such
flows would have an extremely important impact on the vol-
canic history for the planet.
4. Regarding the 'wrinkle ridge' problem, as discussedin
sectionD3, the presenceof lunar mare-typewrinkle ridgesis
commonly used as an identifying criterion for lava flows on
the terrestrial planets. Yet, the evidence for this is indirect.
Thus until the mechanism(s)for the formation of ridges is
fully understood,the use of ridgesto identify volcanicunits is
open to question.
5. What are the geochemical,petrologic,and geophysical
propertiesof the magma sourceson Mars? Nearly all ques-
tions regardingthe subsurfaceand geophysicalcharacteristics
on Mars remain open.
The solutionsto thesequestionsare dimcult and in many
caseswill not be forthcomingfor many years.Questions1 and
2 can be answeredbestwith returnedsamplesfrom carefully
selectedsiteson Mars, althoughquestionsregardingcomposi-
tion might be answeredto some extent with high-resolution
remote sensingdata from an advanced orbiting spacecraft.
Questions3 and 4 havethe potentialto be answeredthrougha
combinationof photogeology,earth analogstudies,and possi-
bly laboratory simulations.Question5 can probably be ad-
dressed only through the emplacement of instruments on
Mars and experimental petrologic study of returned Martian
lava samples.
The classificationand mapping presentedhere should not
be considered definitive. Just as the earlier studies of Martian
volcanismbasedon Mariner 9 data were substantiallyrevised
by incoming Viking data, so too must this study be revised
when the Viking data setis fully utilized. As noted above, this 43, 1977.
study was based on moderate-resolutionViking orbiter im- Greeley, R., and J. H. Hyde, Lava tubesof the Cave basalt,Mount St.
Helens, Washington, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 83, 2397-2418, 1972.
agesand includesrelativelyfew of the high-resolutionimages. Greeley, R., and P. D. Spudis,Volcanismin the crateredterrain hem-
We anticipate that detailed analysesof the high-resolution isphereof Mars, Geophys.Res. Lett., 5, 453-455, 1978.
coveragewill add substantiallyto the knowledgeof localized Greeley,R., P. D. Spudis,and M. B. Womer, The pateraof Marsha
volcanism (through the identification of cinder cone fields,
etc.), which, when viewed globally, will lead to a much better
understandingof the general volcanic history of Mars.
Acknowledgment. This work is supportedby the NASA Planetary
Geology Program, through the Mars Data Analysis and Synthesis
Program.
REFERENCES
Allen, C. C., Volcano/ice interactionson Mars, J. Geophys.
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