Skip to main content

Aureole Deposit (Olympus Mons)

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms
  • 215 Accesses

Definition

Rugged complex deposit shaped as a gigantic halo surrounding Olympus Mons on Mars. The term has also been used in plural (aureoles) to put emphasis on its composite nature and when distinction between the different sub-units is necessary.

Synonyms

Aureole lobes; Aureoles; Circum-Olympus aureole deposits; Lycus Sulci (part of topographic unit)

Description and Morphometry

Up to 700 km wide rough-textured halo-shaped deposits surrounding Olympus Mons, Mars, displayed as a series of ~4–11 sub-circular lobes (Figs. 1 and 2). Single lobe-shaped units exhibit up to 1 km high transverse ridges. The maximum distance from the edifice of the Olympus Mons, about 700 km, is reached in correspondence of the NW unit. Single aureole lobes are some hundred meters thick; the maximum thickness (~2,200 m) is recorded along the SE-NW direction as a result of the superposition of more lobes. The total area estimated by Morris and Tanaka (1994) is 8.36 × 105 km2, or nearly one tenth the extension...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Carr MH (1973) Volcanism on Mars. J Geophys Res 78:4049–4062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chittenden D, McGovern PJ (2004) The Olympus Mons aureole deposits: constraints on emplacement scenarios based on remotely sensed data. Lunar Planet Sci XXXV:2074, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • De Blasio FV (2011) The aureole of Olympus Mons (Mars) as the compound deposit of submarine landslides. Earth Planet Sci Lett 312:126–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis PW, Wadge G (1983) The Olympus Mons aureole: formation by gravitational spreading. J Geophys Res 88:8333–8344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller ER, Head JW III (2003) Olympus Mons, Mars: detection of extensive preaureole volcanism and implications for initial mantle plume behavior. Geology 31(2):175–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris SA (1977) The aureole of Olympus Mons. J Geophys Res 82:3099–3107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison KP, Grimm RE (2003) Rheological constrains on martial landslides. Icarus 163:347–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helgason J (1999) Formation of Olympus Mons and the aureole-escarpment problem on Mars. Geology 27:231–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiller KH, Janle P, Neukum GPO, Guest JE, Lopes RMC (1982) Mars: stratigraphy and gravimetry of Olympus Mons and its aureole. JGR 87:9905–9915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges CA, Moore HJ (1979) The subglacial birth of Olympus Mons and its aureoles. J Geophys Res 84:8061–8074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopes RMC, Guest JE, Wilson CJ (1980) Origin of the Olympus Mons aureole and perimeter scarp. Earth Moon Planet 22(2):221–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes R, Hiller K, Neukum G, Guest JE (1982) Further evidence for a mass movement origin of the Olympus Mons Aureole. J Geophys Res 87:9917–9928. doi:10.1029/JB087iB12p09917

    Google Scholar 

  • McCauley JM, Carr MH, Cutts JA, Hartmann WK, Masurski H, Milton DJ, Sharp RP, Wilhelms DE (1972) Preliminary Mariner 9 report on the geology of Mars. Icarus 45:264–303

    Google Scholar 

  • McGovern PJ, Smith JR, Morgan JK, Bulmer MH (2004) Olympus Mons aureole deposits: new evidence for a flank failure origin. J Geophys Res 109:E08008

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellon MT, Jakosky BM, Kieffer HH, Christensen PR (2000) High-resolution thermal inertia mapping from the Mars global surveyor thermal emission spectrometer. Icarus 148:437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris EC (1981) Structure of Olympus Mons and its basal scarp: 3rd international colloquium on Mars, pp 161–162 (abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris EC (1982) Aureole deposits of the Martian volcano Olympus Mons. J Geophys Res 87(82):1164–1178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris EC, Tanaka KL (1994) Geologic maps of the Olympus Mons region of Mars: U.S. geological survey miscellaneous investigations map I-2327, scale 1:2,000,000

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouginis-Mark P (1993) The influence of oceans on Martian volcanism. Lunar Planet Sci XXIV:1021, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Mushkin A, Gillespie AR, Montgomery DR, Schreiber BC, Arvidson RE (2010) Spectral constraints on the composition of low-albedo slope streaks in the Olympus Mons aureole. Geophys Res Lett 37:L22201. doi:10.1029/2010GL044535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka KL (1985) Ice-lubricated gravity spreading of the Olympus Mons aureole deposits. Icarus 62:191–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fabio Vittorio De Blasio .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

De Blasio, F.V. (2014). Aureole Deposit (Olympus Mons). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_9-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_9-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics