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Spatial and Alignment Analyses for a Field of Small Volcanic Vents South of Pavonis Mons and Implications for the Tharsis Province, MarsA field of small volcanic vents south of Pavonis Mons was mapped with each vent assigned a two-dimensional data point. Nearest neighbor and two-point azimuth analyses were applied to the resulting location data. Nearest neighbor results show that vents within this field are spatially random in a Poisson sense, suggesting that the vents formed independently of each other without sharing a centralized magma source at shallow depth. Two-point azimuth results show that the vents display north-trending alignment relationships between one another. This trend corresponds to the trends of faults and fractures of the Noachian-aged Claritas Fossae, which might extend into our study area buried beneath more recently emplaced lava flows. However, individual elongate vent summit structures do not consistently display the same trend. The development of the volcanic field appears to display tectonic control from buried Noachian-aged structural patterns on small, ascending magma bodies while the surface orientations of the linear vents might reflect different, younger tectonic patterns. These results suggest a complex interaction between magma ascension through the crust, and multiple, older, buried Tharsis-related tectonic structures.
Document ID
20110007232
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Bleacher, Jacob E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Glaze, Lori S.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Greeley, Ronald
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Hauber, Ernst
(Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt Berlin, Germany)
Baloga, Stephen
(Proxemy Research, Inc. Laytonsville, MD, United States)
Sakimoto, Susan E. H.
(Notre Dame Univ. IN, United States)
Williams, David A.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Glotch, Timothy D.
(Stony Brook Univ. Stony Brook, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Volume: 185
Issue: 1 ad 2
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AY91G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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