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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L16203, doi:10.1029/2007GL030544, 2007

Mantle convection and magma production on present-day Mars: Effects of temperature-dependent rheology

Qingsong Li

Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA

Walter S. Kiefer

Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA

Abstract

Using recent volcanism on Mars as an important constraint, we explore the nature of present-day mantle convection using numerical simulations with temperature-dependent Arrhenius viscosity. Increasing the activation energy decreases both the magma production rate and the convective heat flux, while increasing the thermal Rayleigh number increases these quantities. For values of the activation energy inferred from lab studies of olivine, a thermal Rayleigh number (defined with a volume-averaged viscosity) exceeding 2 · 10⁶ best fits the observational constraints, including the recent volcanism rate and the range of melt fractions in the shergottites. The heat flux out of the core is low enough to avoid a magnetic dynamo, an important improvement over prior work. These results indicate that present-day mantle convection on Mars remains relatively vigorous.

Received 3 May 2007; accepted 23 July 2007; published 24 August 2007.

Keywords: mantle convection; Mars; magma.

Index Terms: 5418 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Heat flow; 5430 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Interiors (8147); 5480 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450); 6225 Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mars; 8121 Tectonophysics: Dynamics: convection currents, and mantle plumes.

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Citation: Li, Q., and W. S. Kiefer (2007), Mantle convection and magma production on present-day Mars: Effects of temperature-dependent rheology, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L16203, doi:10.1029/2007GL030544.

Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.