Effects of Martian conditions on numerically modeled, cooling‐limited, channelized lava flows

[1] We used the FLOWGO thermorheological model to examine the effects of Martian gravitational and environmental conditions on the cooling-limited behavior of lava flowing in a channel. The largest effect is due to the lower gravity on Mars as compared to Earth, which causes lava to flow more slowly. The lower velocity means that heat loss per distance down a Mars channel is greater even though the lower velocity also produces a higher percentage cover of insulating crust. Gravity alone causes the Mars flow to be >65 km shorter than an Earth flow with an equivalent volumetric flow rate. The cooler ambient Mars atmosphere causes a slight increase in heat loss by forced convection. This slows the flow a bit more, resulting in a very slight increase in heat loss per distance by all mechanisms, and decreases the modeled flow length by ∼1 km, a difference well below our model uncertainty. Replacing terrestrial values of atmospheric density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and cubic expansivity makes convection less efficient and increases flow length by ∼15 km. Nevertheless, at the same volumetric flow rate, lava flows ∼50 km less far under Martian conditions than under terrestrial conditions. Our specific model flow has a volumetric flow rate of ∼5000 m3 s−1 and traveled ∼190 km down a channel on a constant 7° slope. This volumetric flow rate is slightly less than the maximum rates during the 1783–1785 Laki eruption and is 5–10 times greater than those of typical Mauna Loa eruptions.

[1]  J. Head,et al.  Mars: review and analysis of volcanic eruption theory and relationships to observed landforms. , 1994 .

[2]  Ronald Greeley,et al.  Measurements of wind friction speeds over lava surfaces and assessment of sediment transport , 1987 .

[3]  G. Hulme,et al.  The Interpretation of Lava Flow Morphology , 1974 .

[4]  Harold Jeffreys M.A. D.Sc. LXXXIV. The flow of water in an inclined channel of rectangular section , 1925 .

[5]  S. Baloga,et al.  Time‐dependent profiles of lava flows , 1986 .

[6]  D. Blanchard,et al.  Raindrop Measurements during Project Shower , 1957 .

[7]  A. Harris,et al.  FLOWGO: a kinematic thermo-rheological model for lava flowing in a channel , 2001 .

[8]  A. Harris,et al.  The thermal stealth flows of Santiaguito dome, Guatemala: Implications for the cooling and emplacement of dacitic block-lava flows , 2002 .

[9]  J. Crisp Rates of magma emplacement and volcanic output , 1984 .

[10]  J. Head,et al.  Volcanic processes and landforms on Venus: theory, predictions, and observations. , 1986 .

[11]  Joy A. Crisp,et al.  Influence of crystallization and entrainment of cooler material on the emplacement of basaltic aa lava flows , 1994 .

[12]  Stephen Self,et al.  Some physical requirements for the emplacement of long basaltic lava flows , 1998 .

[13]  Estimation of volcanic eruption conditions for a large flank event on Elysium Mons, Mars , 2001 .

[14]  P. Mouginis-Mark,et al.  The long lava flows of Elysium Planita, Mars , 1996 .

[15]  C. Kilburn,et al.  The evolution of lava flow-fields: observations of the 1981 and 1983 eruptions of Mount Etna, Sicily , 1987 .

[16]  S. Sakimoto,et al.  Channeled flow: Analytic solutions, laboratory experiments, and applications to lava flows , 2001 .

[17]  L. Keszthelyi,et al.  Calculation of lava effusion rates from Landsat TM data , 1998 .

[18]  B. Marsh On the crystallinity, probability of occurrence, and rheology of lava and magma , 1981 .

[19]  Clive Oppenheimer,et al.  Lava flow cooling estimated from Landsat Thematic Mapper infrared data: The Lonquimay Eruption (Chile, 1989) , 1991 .

[20]  James R. Murphy,et al.  Results of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder windsock experiment , 2000 .

[21]  G. Hulme A review of lava flow processes related to the formation of lunar sinuous rilles , 1982 .

[22]  Samuel Glasstone,et al.  Textbook of physical chemistry , 1941 .

[23]  Peter J. Mouginis-Mark,et al.  Temperature of an active lava channel from spectral measurements, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii , 1994 .

[24]  Harold Garbeil,et al.  Lengths and hazards from channel-fed lava flows on Mauna Loa, Hawai‘i, determined from thermal and downslope modeling with FLOWGO , 2005 .

[25]  Joy A. Crisp,et al.  A model for lava flows with two thermal components , 1990 .

[26]  Mark S. Ghiorso,et al.  Chemical mass transfer in magmatic processes IV. A revised and internally consistent thermodynamic model for the interpolation and extrapolation of liquid-solid equilibria in magmatic systems at elevated temperatures and pressures , 1995 .

[27]  David C. Pieri,et al.  Crystallization history of the 1984 Mauna Loa lava flow , 1994 .

[28]  James P. Kauahikaua,et al.  Observations on basaltic lava streams in tubes from Kilauea Volcano, island of Hawai'i , 1998 .

[29]  D. Rothery,et al.  Effusion rate trends at Etna and Krafla and their implications for eruptive mechanisms , 2000 .

[30]  G. Macedonio,et al.  Viscous heating in fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity: implications for magma flows , 2003 .

[31]  M. Dragoni,et al.  A dynamical model of lava flows cooling by radiation , 1989 .

[32]  G. Wadge The variation of magma discharge during basaltic eruptions , 1981 .

[33]  W. M. Haynes CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics , 1990 .

[34]  Roger P. Denlinger,et al.  The initial cooling of pahoehoe flow lobes , 1996 .

[35]  J. Fink,et al.  Longitudinal Variations in Rheological Properties of Lavas: Puu Oo Basalt Flows, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii , 1990 .

[36]  V. S. Vaidhyanathan,et al.  Transport phenomena , 2005, Experientia.

[37]  R. M. Henry,et al.  Meteorological results from the surface of Mars: Viking 1 and 2 , 1977 .

[38]  E. D. Cyan Handbook of Chemistry and Physics , 1970 .

[39]  S. Baloga,et al.  Eruption Constraints on Tube-Fed Planetary Lava Flows , 1997 .

[40]  R. M. Henry,et al.  Mars meteorology - Three seasons at the surface , 1978 .

[41]  Lionel Wilson,et al.  Factors controlling the lengths of channel-fed lava flows , 1994 .

[42]  R. M. Henry,et al.  Mars atmospheric phenomena during major dust storms, as measured at surface , 1979 .

[43]  J. Fink,et al.  Rheology of the 1983 Royal Gardens basalt flows, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii , 1986 .

[44]  Rosaly M. C. Lopes,et al.  The lobes of lava flows on Earth and Olympus Mons, Mars , 1991 .

[45]  Laszlo P. Keszthelyi,et al.  Measurements of the cooling at the base of Pahoehoe Flows , 1995 .

[46]  Rosalind J Wright,et al.  Cooling mechanisms and an approximate thermal budget for the 1991–1993 Mount Etna lava flow , 1997 .

[47]  L. Keszthelyi A preliminary thermal budget for lava tubes on the Earth and planets , 1995 .

[48]  Terry Z. Martin,et al.  Thermal and albedo mapping of Mars during the Viking primary mission , 1977 .

[49]  Harry Pinkerton,et al.  Methods of determining the rheological properties of magmas at sub-liquidus temperatures. , 1992 .

[50]  J. Whitelaw,et al.  Convective heat and mass transfer , 1966 .

[51]  Ralph O. Kehle,et al.  Physical Processes in Geology , 1972 .

[52]  T. Thordarson,et al.  The Laki (Skaftár Fires) and Grímsvötn eruptions in 1783–1785 , 1993 .