American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 1454403 bytes)

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 113, E05003, doi:10.1029/2007JE002954, 2008

A self-replication model for long channelized lava flows on the Mars plains

S. M. Baloga

Proxemy Research, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA


L. S. Glaze

Proxemy Research, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA


Abstract

A model is presented for channelized lava flows emplaced by a self-replicating, levee-building process over long distances on the plains of Mars. Such flows may exhibit morphologic evidence of stagnation, overspills, and upstream breakouts. However, these processes do not inhibit the formation and persistence of a prominent central channel that can often be traced for more than 100 km. The two central assumptions of the self-replication model are (1) the flow advances at the average upstream velocity of the molten core and (2) the fraction of the lava that travels faster than the average upstream velocity forms stationary margins in the advancing distal zone to preserve the self-replication process. For an exemplary 300 km long flow north of Pavonis Mons, the model indicates that ∼8 m of crust must have formed during emplacement, as determined from the channel and levee dimensions. When combined with independent thermal dynamic estimates for the crustal growth rate, relatively narrow constraints are obtained for the flow rate (2250 m3 s−1), emplacement duration (600 d), and the lava viscosity of the molten interior (106 Pa s). Minor, transient overspills and breakouts increase the emplacement time by only a factor of 2. The primary difference between the prodigious channelized Martian flows and their smaller terrestrial counterparts is that high volumetric flow rates must have persisted for many hundreds of days on Mars, in contrast to a few hours or days on Earth.

Received 15 June 2007; accepted 31 January 2008; published 10 May 2008.

Keywords: self-replicating; lava flow; channel.

Index Terms: 5480 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450); 8450 Volcanology: Planetary volcanism (5480, 6063, 8148); 8425 Volcanology: Effusive volcanism; 8429 Volcanology: Lava rheology and morphology; 8414 Volcanology: Eruption mechanisms and flow emplacement.

Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 1454403 bytes)

Citation: Baloga, S. M., and L. S. Glaze (2008), A self-replication model for long channelized lava flows on the Mars plains, J. Geophys. Res., 113, E05003, doi:10.1029/2007JE002954.