The volcanic and tectonic evolution of Syrtis Major
Abstract
The Syrtis Major Planum, originally mapped as unit Hs in the Greely and Guest 1987 map [1], is a low-angle basaltic shield volcano (Figure 1). Greeley and Guest suggested it is Hesperian (3.7 - 3.0 Ga) age, but recent work suggests a wider range of formation ages [2]. The edifice is a 1500 km by 1100 km (~1 % of the martian surface) basaltic lava plain with a total lava thickness of ~500 m..
At the center of the edifice there is a 1500 m depression containing two distinct central calderas believed to contain evolved volcanic products [3]. Additionally, extensional and compressional fault systems, orientated concentrically and radially from the central caldera complex, dissect the flanks. Syrtis Major has not been holistically investigated since a summary of MGS data in 2004 [4]. Other works have focused on different aspects of its evolution.- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- September 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013EPSC....8..204F