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5 - Comparison of flood lavas on Earth and Mars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2009

By
Laszlo Keszthelyi  and
Alfred McEwen
Edited by
Mary Chapman
Laszlo Keszthelyi
Affiliation:
US Geological Survey, Flagstaff
Alfred McEwen
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Mary Chapman
Affiliation:
United States Geological Survey, Arizona
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Summary

Introduction

Flood lavas, by definition, cover vast areas in great sheets of lava, without the construction of major edifices (e.g., Geikie, 1880; Washington, 1922; Tyrrell, 1937; Self et al., 1997). The flat terrain that flood lavas produce has led to the term “plateau volcanism” to be used as a synonym for flood volcanism. In addition, the classic erosion pattern of flood lavas leaves a series of topographic steps. Thus many flood basalt provinces are known as “traps” from the Scandinavian word for steps. Plateau volcanism transitions to “plains” volcanism when low shields become common (Greeley and King, 1977). It is not surprising that these large-volume eruptions are usually composed of the most common of volcanic rocks: basalt. Thus, the term “flood basalt” is often used interchangeably with “flood volcanism.” However, there can be interesting and significant compositional variability within flood “basalt” provinces. The most general term to describe all large-volume volcanism is “Large Igneous Province” (LIP) (e.g., Coffin and Eldholm, 1994).

LIPs represent a major geologic event with significant repercussions on the interior of a planetary body. The extraction of such large volumes of magma can alter the thermal state of the mantle, indicate major changes in the convection patterns within the mantle, and lead to geochemical evolution of the mantle on a regional scale (e.g., Coffin and Eldholm, 1994 and references therein). Flood lavas also alter the face of a planet for geologically significant time.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Geology of Mars
Evidence from Earth-Based Analogs
 , pp. 126 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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