Episodic Volcanism and Fluvial Activities in a Floor-Fractured Crater at the Flanks of Arsia Mons

Introduction: The Tharsis region forms the largest volcanic province on Mars. The lava flows [1], dikes [2] and fractures/grabens that formed due to tectonic [3,4] and volcanic activity [5] has been studied in detail in Tharsis to understand and constrain the geologic history of the region. In this study, we have used an unnamed crater (220o E, -23o S) of 23km-dia on the southwestern flanks of Arsia Mons which has undergone extensive intrusive and extrusive volcanism as a proxy to understand the magmatic process in the region and its consequence for other erosional processes. (Fig. 1a, b). The crater displays presence of several flow fronts of lava with different textures, concentric fractures, Vmoat at the periphery and two channels entering in through the wall with and without deposits respectively. These indicate that the region has seen multiple episodes of lava flow with evolving magma and erosion both by lava and fluvial processes.