The search for volcanic eruptions on Mars reaches the next level

Feb 12, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell, Astrobiology Magazine The Mariner 9 mission first saw the peak of Olympus Mons on Mars in the midst of a global dust storm in 1971. Credit: NASA/JPL

A new study of emissions from Martian volcanoes suggests there is no activity going on right now, but researchers aren't ruling out recent eruptions.

Using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the science team searched for signs of sulfuric acida key indicator of volcanic activity. They focused on the major volcanic provinces of Mars (Tharsis and Syrtis Major) in two, multi-week observation sessions, one from December to January 2012, and another in May and June 2014.

From Earth, they couldn't spot any signs of volcanic eruptions in those brief periods. These findings match similar negative results from searches the team conducted using the Very Large Telescope in Chile (an optical telescope) and the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory radio telescope.

Different types of molecules emit characteristic "signatures" based on the energy of their individual elements, with each one acting as a sort of fingerprint for investigators. In radio wavelengths, the search technique is slightly different; scientists look for distinctive lines that occur as the molecules rotate. Fortunately, sulfuric acid shows up quite well in these wavelengths.

The results were presented at the American Astronomical Society Department of Planetary Sciences meeting in November under the title, "A new search for active release of volcanic gases on Mars: Sensitive upper limits for OCS," led by Alain Khayat (University of Hawaii).

Researcher and co-author Geronimo Villanueva says the next logical step in the research is getting up close to Mars to do a lengthy search. Fortunately for Villanueva, he has use of an instrument approved on a forthcoming European spacecraft to do that very thing.

"From Earth, searching is tricky. Telescope time only gives you a particular time or instance and you don't have the whole picture," said Villanueva, a research assistant professor at Catholic University of America in residence at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. "The orbiter provides daily maps of the atmosphere, so we're going to learn a lot about the actual processes on the planet."

Villanueva is a co-investigator of NOMAD (Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery), a spectrometer that will fly on the 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter with the European Space Agency. The instrument will not only look for volcanisma sign of energy that could be a source for life to grow onbut also organic substances that could indicate byproducts of life itself.

On Earth, for example, volcanoes recycle carbon dioxide, which plants use, and also spew out plant-friendly ash. Hot springs are also a common feature of nearby volcanoes, and they form when heated rocks underground interact with groundwater. Despite the tough environment of hot springsthe high temperature and acidity, for examplecertain organisms, such as extremophiles, live in this habitat.

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The search for volcanic eruptions on Mars reaches the next level