Olympus Mons Aureole Deposits: New Evidence for a Flank Failure Origin

The origin of the rough-textured aureoles that surround the immense Olympus Mons volcano on Mars is controversial. We present data from the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey missions to demonstrate that at least two of the aureole lobes are derived from the volcano's flanks in large and probably catastrophic mass movement events, leaving behind headwalls that constitute the basal scarp. This evidence stems from the morphology and internal structure of aureole blocks, which exhibit remnants of volcanic flow units on their surfaces. Our claim is supported by plausible reconstructions of the prefailure flanks. Structural analogs to known flank failure events at Hawaiian volcanoes suggest that repeated cycles of flank growth and collapse at Olympus Mons allow generation of the observed aureoles from a protoedifice similar in size and shape to the present one.