Genetic types of mud volcanism in the Cydonia and Acidalia regions of Mars

Abstract

Small cone/mound-shaped structures are widespread on the northern plains of Mars. They are usually interpreted as mud volcanoes because of their close morphological resemblance to mud volcanoes on Earth (for example, in Azerbaijan and near the Sea of Azov). If this interpretation is correct, the small cones/mounds could be evidence of the existence of an extensive subsurface mud source, which, in turn, could be formed by the bottom sediments of a large water reservoir (ocean) that existed on the northern plains of Mars in the past eras of this planet’s geological history. Compared to mud volcanoes on Earth, the morphology of small cones/mounds on Mars varies over a wider range and, which may be due to a greater variety of mechanisms of formation of Martian cones/ mounds. In this study, we studied the morphology of small hills in the Cydonia and eastern Acidalia regions, which are located near the dichotomous boundary within the northern plains of Mars and found that there are 5types of cones/mounds, whose morphology probably characterizes the water-mud reservoir features.