[1] Amazonis Planitia, located between the two main volcanic provinces on Mars (Tharsis and Elysium), is characterized by extremely smooth topography at several scale lengths, as smooth as oceanic abyssal plains topography on Earth. We use Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data (primarily very high resolution Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) topography and derivative slope maps, gradient maps, and ...

Introduction: Glaze et al. [1] and Baloga et al. [2] have both recently indicated the importance of understanding the scale of a lava flow relative to the surrounding topography in extracting inferences about rheologic changes and the interpretation of the style of emplacement. The underlying scientific issue is whether flow emplacement is controlled by the largescale topographic inclination or...

[1] New spacecraft data, especially MOLA topography, reveal important characteristics of Alba Patera that were either unknown or poorly resolved in previous data sets. The major and consistent breaks of slope and the specific pattern of lava flows within a broad region around Alba Patera permit division of this area into two major parts that appear to be related to different episodes of volcani...

Introduction: The Olympus Mons shield volcano on the northwestern edge of Mars’ Tharsis rise is the largest volcano in the solar system. Its volcanic history is intimately tied with the volcanic and geodynamic history of Tharsis and of Mars as a whole. Previous studies used crater counting to estimate the age of the flanks of Olympus, with typical values of ~200 Myr [1]. However, establishing t...

The determination of areas exposed to new eruptive events in volcanic regions is crucial for diminishing consequences in terms of human causalities and damages of material properties. In this paper, we illustrate a methodology for defining flexible high-detailed lava invasion hazard maps which is based on an robust and efficient Cellular Automata model for simulating lava flows. We also present...

Tuffisites are veins of variably sintered, pyroclastic particles that form in conduits and lava domes as a result of localized fragmentation events during gas-and-ash explosions. Those observed in-situ on the active 2012 lava dome of Volcán de Colima range from voids with intra-clasts showing little movement and interpreted to be failure-nuclei, to sub-parallel lenses of sintered granular aggre...

We report the direct observation of a peculiar lava channel that was formed near the base of a parasitic cone during the 2001 eruption on Mount Etna. Erosive processes by flowing lava are commonly attributed to thermal erosion. However, field evidence strongly suggests that models of thermal erosion cannot explain the formation of this channel. Here, we put forward the idea that the essential e...

This paper reports on some initial experiences developing and evaluating a games-based approach to explorative learning. The approach adopted has particular relevance to subjects such as archaeology and geography that have scope for a significant fieldwork element, but which in practice are limited by the problems and costs associated with arranging real experience for potentially large numbers...