A team of researchers led by Steve Ruff from the University of Arizona's School of Earth and Space Exploration
New research will help better understand natureolivine-rich bedrock in other regions on Mars, and also point to a type of volcanism that was more common in the early history of the Red Planet. The results of their research were recently published in Icarus.
“There are many ideas about the origin of olivine-richbedrock that covers most of the region called Nili Fosse, which includes the Lake Jezero crater, explains the author of the study. “This is a debate that has been going on for almost 20 years.”
Olivine is a common silicate mineral,which is formed from magma formed in the mantle of Mars (the same process occurs on Earth). So some kind of volcanic process is a reasonable explanation for the origin of the olivine-rich rocks. But different scenarios for their appearance have appeared before.
Scientists tried to test the leading hypothesisabout the ash that was “carefully” deposited from volcanic plumes. But their observations revealed a much more “brutal” story. They studied several rocks with unusual textures. Geologists realized they were looking at ignimbrites, which are formed by flows of pyroclastic ash and pumice from the largest volcanic explosions known on Earth. Scientists have come to the conclusion that these rocks appeared as a result of a similar catastrophe on Mars.
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