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A comparison of inner Solar System volcanism

Nature Astronomy volume 4, pages 321–327 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The volcanic landforms, eruptive sites and longevity of activity on Mercury and the Moon contrast substantially with those of Earth, Venus and Mars. Here, I synthesize global maps of volcanic and tectonic features for these five worlds and, from the collective records of volcanic activity in the inner Solar System, draw conclusions about the long-term behaviour of terrestrial planets in general. Mercury and the Moon differ from the larger planetary bodies in terms of not only size and composition (and so shorter periods of melt production) but also by their being affected by a horizontally compressive stress state arising from a reduction in planetary volume as they cooled. The phenomenon of global contraction also readily accounts for the dearth of widespread extensional tectonic structures on Mercury and the Moon. From this comparative analysis, the most promising extrasolar planets on which to focus future searches for evidence of active, radiogenically driven volcanism are probably the larger rocky bodies in a mature planetary system or those worlds in relatively young systems.

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Fig. 1: Global distribution of major volcanic units and landforms on Mercury.
Fig. 2: Global distribution of major volcanic units and landforms on the Moon.
Fig. 3: Global distribution of major volcanic units and landforms on Earth.
Fig. 4: Global distribution of major volcanic units and landforms on Venus.
Fig. 5: Global distribution of major volcanic units and landforms on Mars.
Fig. 6: Schematic timeline of volcanic activity on the inner Solar System bodies.

planet images, NASA

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For Fig. 1 (Mercury), the smooth plains are from ref. 11, with known volcanic plains from ref. 16. Sites of explosive volcanism are from ref. 5, and the impact craters shown are taken from ref. 89. Extensional structures within Borealis Planitia are from ref. 90 and the remainder (including those within Caloris Planitia) are from ref. 91.

For Fig. 2 (the Moon), the lunar mare boundaries are a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Shapefile Product (http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/rdr_product_select). Sites of near-surface intrusion are the aggregated floor-fractured craters from ref. 25, the volcanoes shown are those subtle, large shields described by ref. 28 and sites of lunar pyroclastic volcanism are from ref. 23. The extensional structures are graben mapped by ref. 92; the impact basins are from the catalogue constructed by ref. 93.

For Fig. 3 (Earth), the plate boundaries (and types) are from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS ‘Plate Lines and Plate Polygons’ layer package. The (abyssal and hadal) seafloor units shown are from ref. 94. Major volcanoes are from the ESRI ‘volcano.shp’ file. Hotspot point data and large igneous province polygons are from the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics website (www-udc.ig.utexas.edu/external/plates/data/LIPS/Data), based on data compiled by ref. 95. The major continental rift zones are from the NASA Digital Tectonic Activity Map. All geological units shown for Fig. 4 (Venus) are from ref. 46; volcanic units ‘psh’ (shield plains), ‘rp1’ (regional plains 1) and ‘rp2’ (regional plains 2) have been combined, and are shown with tectonic unit ‘rz’ (rift zones). Individual volcanoes are from the Brown University Volcano Catalog (available via ftp://pdsimage2.wr.usgs.gov/pub/pigpen/venus/Volcano) and coronae are from ref. 96. For Fig. 5 (Mars), volcanic units and extensional structures (‘Graben axis’) are from ref. 39. Volcanic units from that source have been combined as follows: ‘lAv’ (Late Amazonian volcanic unit), ‘lAvf’ (Late Amazonian volcanic field unit), ‘Av’ (Amazonian volcanic unit), ‘AHv’ (Amazonian and Hesperian volcanic unit), ‘Hv’ (Late Hesperian volcanic unit), ‘lHvf’ (Late Hesperian volcanic field unit), ‘eHv’ (Early Hesperian volcanic unit), ‘lNv’ (Late Noachian volcanic unit), ‘Ave’ (Amazonian volcanic edifice), ‘Hve’ (Hesperian volcanic edifice unit), ‘Nve’ (Noachian volcanic edifice unit), ‘lAa’ (Late Amazonian apron unit) and ‘Aa’ (Amazonian apron unit). Volcanic edifices are from the Integrated Database of Planetary Features composite catalogue (https://planetarydatabase.wordpress.com/category/mars), and the impact basins in the map are from the global database of ref. 97, to which I added the outlines for the Argyre and Hellas basins.

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Acknowledgements

I thank C. I. Fassett, M. A. Ivanov and L. M. Jozwiak for providing several component datasets that constitute the map figures, and A. M. O’Halloran, C. J. Ahrens, R. M. Atkins, D. R. Bohnenstiehl, J. M. Chesnutt, C. Klimczak, C. L. Kling, F. M. McCubbin, L. K. Schaefer, A. M. C. Şengör and S. C. Solomon for their constructive feedback during the writing of the manuscript. I acknowledge support from North Carolina State University. This research made use of NASA’s Planetary Data System and Astrophysics Data System.

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    Paul K. Byrne

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Byrne, P.K. A comparison of inner Solar System volcanism. Nat Astron 4, 321–327 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0944-3

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