MOSCOW, Idaho — A University of Idaho postdoctoral researcher, Ian T.W. Flynn, working under Erika Rader, an assistant professor at the school in the Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences, has discovered evidence of a spatter cone volcano on Mars.
"We are thrilled about this discovery because it fills a distinct observational gap in Martian volcanology, and it lays the groundwork for future investigations of spatter features on Mars," Flynn said.
Flynn made the discovery by "a detailed morphological investigation and ballistic modeling." According to a news release, the cones are made when hot lava splatters back onto the Earth's surface during a volcanic eruption and can be found in many different locations.
"Spatter cones are so common on Earth that it seemed extremely unlikely that they simply didn't exist on Mars," Rader said. "Since spatter cones can only form in the right conditions, their presence gives us a benchmark to shoot for when simulating Martian volcanoes."
Idaho's own Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve has an example of spatter cones.
"The similarity between the Mars and Icelandic spatter cones indicates that the eruption dynamics occurring in Iceland, over the last several years, also occurred on Mars," Flynn said. "This is exciting as it expands the range of volcanic eruption styles possible on Mars."
