Lava Flows of Arsia Mons, Mars

Lava Flows of Arsia Lava Flows of Arsia Mons, MarsMons, Mars

Ruben RivasCollege of Engineering

University of Arizona (Tucson, Az)

Space Grant Mentor: David CrownPlanetary Science Institute (Tucson, Az)

-Arsia Mons-Arsia Mons- 461 x 326 km across- 461 x 326 km across- 17.7 km high- 17.7 km high

-Part of Tharsis Volcanic Province-Part of Tharsis Volcanic Province-Has numerous lava flows-Has numerous lava flows

ObjectivesCompile topographic and imaging datasets into

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databaseDifferent Datasets

MOLA (~462 meter per pixel) THEMIS (~100 meter per pixel)CTX (~6 meter per pixel)HiRISE (~1 meter per pixel)

Study small-scale surface characteristics of Arsia Mons lava flows to understand lava flow behavior and modification of lava flow surfaces by the wind and impact of craters

CTX HiRISE

THEMIS

Lava FlowsUsing HiRISE images will help for better

examination of martian lava flows

Distance (m)

Crater 4 Rock Diameter

Diameter

0 1 2 3 4 5

Num

ber

0

20

40

60

80

Col 2

Crater DataCrater 1 (83 rocks)

◦Rock Size Range: 0.9–4.9m◦Crater’s Diameter: 140.3m

Crater 2 (63 rocks)◦Rock Size Range: 0.5 – 1.9m◦Crater’s Diameter: 17.2m

Crater 3 (62 rocks)◦Rock Size Range: 0.5 – 2.6m◦Crater’s Diameter: 38.4m

Crater 4 (145 rocks)◦Rock Size Range: 0.9 – 5.1m◦Crater’s Diameter: 88.9m

Lava Flow Margins50 segments of lava flows 5-50 km long

were examined in CTX images

Fractal Dimensions of Lava Flow Margins- Arsia Mons flow segments span the ranges found for lava flows on Earth

- Lack of expected bimodal distribution due to complex margins at various scales

- Ongoing work: searching for correlations between fractaldimensions and different flow types

Fractal Dimension

Summary CTX images can be used to study the behavior of lava flows

on Mars HiRISE images provide information on the modification of

lava flow surfaces due wind and impact craters