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Volcanic craters and cones in central Kachchh mainland, western India: Potential analogue for the Martian studies?

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Abstract

The magmatism in Kachchh is associated with the northwestern Deccan Continental Flood Basalt Province (CFB) (~65–68 Ma). They form the base of the local Deccan stratigraphy, and their volcanological context is poorly understood. Apart from the flow, there are isolated hills of volcanic rocks, which have stood against the erosional processes that occurred in the basin. This paper provides an overview of features indicative of the interaction between water and lava and/or magma in Kachchh and their suitability as analogue for Mars. We have surveyed <22 craters/cones within the basin for their relevancy as planetary analogue. Evaluated during field investigations and satellite imagery for structures, physiography, and geologic setting concerning climate change from its evolution. The weathering profile and altered aqueous minerals are also proven analogues from the basin. We propose the Dhinodhar, Varar, and other basaltic vents as an analogue for the Ceraunius, Hecates Tholus, and Volcanic Rootless Constructs (VRCs) of Mars.

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Acknowledgements

The study is funded by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), MOM-AO Project ISRO/SSPO/MOM-AO/2016-17. We are thankful to MRO CTX team for making their data available. This paper forms a part of the doctoral thesis of Mr Anil Chavan. Head, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, K.S.K.V. Kachchh University, is gratefully acknowledged for constant encouragement during the work. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the Handling Editor for their constructive and insightful suggestions, improving our paper in its present form.

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  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, K.S.K.V. Kachchh University, Bhuj, 370 001, India

    Anil Chavan & Subhash Bhandari

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Anil Chavan: Conceptualization, visualization, methodology, investigation, data collection, analysis, preparation of figures, writing original draft. Subhash Bhandari: Supervision, reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Subhash Bhandari.

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Communicated by Saibal Gupta

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Supplementary material pertaining to this article is available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

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Chavan, A., Bhandari, S. Volcanic craters and cones in central Kachchh mainland, western India: Potential analogue for the Martian studies?. J Earth Syst Sci 131, 235 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01972-4

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