ECS PRESENTATION

ANALYZING THE GEOMORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES ON MARS

EC:2123
LANDSCAPES AND IT'S EVOLUTION
 BY:

Aditya Moger
Rahitya Das
Rajat Balraj
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tharsis : An overview Closer look at Olympus Comparing with Conclusions

mons geomorphological
features on earth.
THARSIS
Tharsis is a vast volcanic plateau centered
near the equator in the western hemisphere
of Mars.

The region is home to the largest volcanoes

in the Solar System which are collectively
known as the Tharsis Montes.

The tallest volcano on the planet, Olympus

Mons, is often associated with the Tharsis
region but is actually located off the western
edge of the plateau.
ISOSTATIC MASS BALANCE

Using Basic isostatic mass balance, Tharsis bulge

was analyzed. Following assumptions were made :
Tharsis is a block of crustal material of uniform
density.
The bulge was assumed to have a rectangular
cross section.
Mantle is assumed to be homogeneous
SETUP
Let's take a closer look at one of the most prominent features in this
region - Olympus Mons
OLYMPUS MONS

The largest of the volcanoes in the Tharsis Montes

region, as well as all known volcanoes in the solar
system, is Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons is a shield
volcano 624 km in diameter, 21 km high, and is
rimmed by a 6 km high scarp.

DOI: 10.1007/s12040-021-01672-5

ISOSTATIC MASS BALANCE

Using Basic isostatic mass balance, Olympus mons

was analyzed. Following assumptions were made :
Olympus mons is a block of crustal material of
uniform density.
The mountain is assumed to have a triangular
cross section.
Mantle is assumed to be homogeneous
SETUP
 ELEVATION PROFILE

Let's take a look at the elevation profile of Olympus Mons.

HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1007/BF00312318

 PROBLEMS WITH THIS THEORY:

Why is only the peak getting affected?

We have seen that the crustal strengh of Mars is just enough to support 21km.

 MAUNA LOA

To compare, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is a shield
volcano 10 km (6.3 mi) high and 120 km (75 mi) across.

The volume of Olympus Mons is about 100 times larger than that of Mauna Loa. In
fact, the entire chain of Hawaiian islands would fit inside Tharsis a little over
twice!
HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1007/BF00312318
 ANALYZING THE CALDERA

Caldera is the depression in volcanoes that forms when the magma chamber of
a shield volcano erupts and collapses inward.
We tried to come up with a simple model to simulate the length scales of a
caldera collapse.
 CONCLUSION

And that's all!

The calculations yield values similar to that of the actual feature on Mars. This
suggests that the feature might indeed be a caldera and could have formed
due to collapse of the magma chamber.
THANK YOU
 REFERENCES
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RESOURCES

Google Earth
https://trek.nasa.gov/