Hecates Tholus

Coordinates: 32°07′N 150°14′E / 32.12°N 150.24°E / 32.12; 150.24
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Hecates Tholus
2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS daytime infrared image mosaic
Coordinates32°07′N 150°14′E / 32.12°N 150.24°E / 32.12; 150.24
EponymHecate

Hecates Tholus is a Martian volcano, notable for results from the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission which indicate a major eruption took place 350 million years ago. The eruption created a caldera 10 km in diameter on the volcano's western flank.[1]

The volcano is at location 32.12°N 150.24°E, in the volcanic province Elysium, and has a diameter of 182 km. It is the northernmost of the Elysium volcanoes; the others are Elysium Mons and Albor Tholus.[2] Hecates Tholus is in the Cebrenia quadrangle.

Origin of name

In planetary nomenclature, a "tholus" is a "small domical mountain or hill". Hecates is named after Hecate, the goddess of the ghost-world, nightly events, and sorcery.[3]

Observation history

Hecates Tholus was first named in 1973.[4] In 2004, ESA's High Resolution Stereo Camera and NASA's Thermal Emission Imaging System both took pictures of the region from orbit.[5][6] These observations showed that this region was more complex than previously assumed, and multiple papers were published using the new data.[7][6][8]

Formation

The eruption which formed the caldera of Hecates Tholus took place 350 million years ago.[8] However, the volcano itself dates back to the Hesperian period of Mars' history,[9] and is at least 3.8 billion years old.[10] Volcanic activity lasted until at least 335 million years ago,[10] and potentially as recent as 100 million years ago. There are at least 5 concentric calderas at the summit; there is some disagreement about the ages of the calderas, most notably the fourth and fifth calderas for which age estimations differ by a factor of ten when one chooses whether or not to factor external lava flows into the age estimation process.[11]

It has been suggested that glacial deposits later partly filled the caldera and an adjacent depression. Crater counts indicate this happened as recently as 5 to 20 million years ago,

obliquity of Mars' rotational axis.[8]

The western flank is expected to have been resurfaced in the Late Amazonian period, due to its lack of craters relative to the rest of the volcano.[1] While craters are useful in dating Martian volcanos, it has proven difficult to apply this method too Hecates Tholus.[11]

Gallery

  • Hecates Tholus topography.
    Hecates Tholus topography.
  • Hecates Tholus ridges, as seen by HiRISE. Ridges are to the west-northwest of Hecates Tholus. It has been proposed that this region was affected by a volcanic eruption that occurred under a 200 meter-thick ice sheet.[13]
    Hecates Tholus ridges, as seen by HiRISE. Ridges are to the west-northwest of Hecates Tholus. It has been proposed that this region was affected by a volcanic eruption that occurred under a 200 meter-thick ice sheet.[13]
  • Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera image.
    Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera image.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0377-0273
    .
  2. ^ "Elysium Mons Volcanic Region". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  3. ^ Blunck, J. 1982. Mars and its Satellites. Exposition Press. Smithtown, N.Y.
  4. ^ "Hecates Tholus". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. October 1, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "Hecates Tholus volcano in 3D". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  6. ^ a b "Hecate Tholus". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  7. ISSN 2156-2202
    .
  8. ^
    S2CID 4427179
    .
  9. Bibcode:2006AGUFM.P13D..03F
    .
  10. ^
    ISSN 0019-1035
    .
  11. ^
    ISSN 0019-1035
    .
  12. ISSN 0032-0633
    .
  13. ^ Mougins-Mark, P., L. Wilson. 2016. Possible sub-glacial eruptions in the Galaxias Quadrangle, Mars. 267, 68-85.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hecates Tholus.
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