[1] This study focuses on the volcanism in Syria Planum, located at the center of the Tharsis bulge at an altitude of 6 to 8 km above Mars datum. Syria Planum was previously recognized as a center for the tectonic activity of Tharsis, but not as a major locus for volcanic activity, despite its centrality over the bulge. Using high-resolution images from the high resolution stereo camera on Mars Express combined with Mars Observer Laser Altimeter data, we have characterized a volcanic system that reveals a number of very interesting aspects of Mars volcanism. We identified a swarm of tens of coalesced shallow volcanic edifices, typically 10-30 km diameter, 0.1-0.2 km high, and with slopes around 0.5°. These characteristics are similar to those of small shield volcanoes found in Iceland. In addition, an intermediate-sized volcano, which is the source of lava flows that extend over >200 km, is observed west of this shield swarm. Our study characterizes a previously unrecognized volcanic assemblage on Mars which appears to be much more developed than was documented before, in terms of morphology, inferred origin, and periodicity of eruption. The estimated lava flux of the Syria Planum volcanoes is of the same order as the lava flux of Tharsis Montes. These characteristics suggest that Syria Planum experienced a very specific style of volcanism, which we dated to the Hesperian period.

In 1994, a new earthquake forecasting method was developed, that integrated in a neural network several forecasting tools that had been originally developed for financial analysis. This method was tested with the seismicity of the Azores, predicting the July, 1998, and the January, 2004, earthquakes, albeit within very wide time and location windows. Work is beginning to integrate physical precursors in the neural network, in order to narrow the forecasting windows.

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Room temperature 57 Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy has been used to investigate the local Fe environment in a set of indochinite tektites from Thailand. A MIMOS II spectrometer in backscattering geometry has been used in the study, so that no sample preparation at all was required. The spectra have been analysed in terms of discrete spectral components using Voigt functions. The results are similar to those obtained with analysis done with quadrupole splitting distributions. In all cases the Mössbauer spectra show a broadened asymmetric quadrupole split doublet. The Fe 2+ sites have been distinguished in Fe with octahedral and tetrahedral coordination. The Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ and Fe 2+ tetrahedral/octahedral ratios have been determined from the relative areas of the various spectral components. Their values have been discussed in the light of actual literature.