LRO observations of morphology and surface roughness of volcanic cones and lobate lava flows in the Marius Hills

Abstract

[1] The volcanic domes, cones, sinuous rilles, and pyroclastic deposits of the Marius Hills region of the Moon (~13.4 N, 304.6 E) represent a significant episode of magmatic activity at or near the lunar surface that is still poorly understood. Comparisons between LROC NAC block populations, Mini-RF data, and Diviner-derived rock abundances confirm that blocky lava flows comprise the domes of the Marius Hills. 8 mm features measured by Diviner indicate that the domes are not rich in silica and are not significantly different than surrounding mare materials. LROC observations indicate that some of the dome-building lava flows originated directly from volcanic cones. Many of the cones are C-shaped, while others are irregularly shaped, and local topography and lava eruptions affect cone shape. In general, the cones are morphologically similar to terrestrial cinder and lava cones and are composed of varying amounts of cinder, spatter, and lava. Many of the cones are found in local groupings or alignments. The wide range of volcanic features, from broad low domes to steep cones, represents a range of variable eruption conditions. Complex morphologies and variable layering show that eruption conditions were variable over the plateau.

Morphometric, rheological and compositional analysis of an effusive lunar dome using high resolution remote sensing data sets: A case study from Marius hills region

“…They had given emphasis on study of morphology of cones having diameters up to 1 to2 km using high resolution LRO-NAC data. Lawrence et al (2013) had also shown the dome analysed in this study as probably associated with Sinous rilles, rille like structure or graben. These types of depressions/structures might be formed due to withdrawal of magma below these regions.…”

“…Many earlier researchers studied the compositional variations of Marius Hills volcanic Complex (Weitz and Head, 1999;Heather et al, 2003;Besse et al, 2011;Sunshine et al, 1994;Lawrence et al, 2013). Sunshine et al, 1994 identified two units based on the brightness differences in visible and near infrared ratio images (0.76/0.99 lm, a simplified 1 lm band strength).…”

“…Marius Hills complex having an extent of 330 km and having summit near 14°N and 52°W. Lawrence et al (2013) studied morphological variations of most of domes and cones using LRO-NAC data at finer resolution. They had given emphasis on study of morphology of cones having diameters up to 1 to2 km using high resolution LRO-NAC data.…”

Shape of scoria cones on Mars: Insights from numerical modeling of ballistic pathways

“…The atmospheric density ρ air of 0.01 kg/m 3 is chosen to correspond to the present-day conditions on Mars and is corrected for the altitude of Ulysses Colles situated ∼4.5 km above the Martian datum (Brož and Hauber, 2012). The ejected material is assumed to have a uniform density ρ rock of 850 kg/m 3 (Lautze and Houghton, 2005;Harris et al, 2012).…”

Planetary Tectonics and Volcanism: The Inner Solar System

“…The analysis of recently acquired topographic data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter led Spudis (2011) to suggest that the entire Marius Hills complex is a large (330 km across and 3.2 km tall) shield volcano peppered with smaller parasitic vents. Lawrence et al (2013) stated that the Marius Hills represent eruptions of mare materials and the morphological variability was caused by a range of eruption and emplacement conditions. Surrounding the Marius Hills is a high spatial density of sinuous rilles ( Figure 4).…”