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Idaho State takes lead in Mars research

Mars exploration is in the news, and Idaho State University is emerging as a national leader in studying the Red Planet, according to a press release.

ISU Department of Geosciences researchers will make presentations at two upcoming national conferences: March 15-19 at the 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in League City, Texas, near Houston and the Johnson Space Center; and May 3-5 at The Geological Society of America’s Rocky Mountain Section and Cordilleran Section Joint Meeting in Boise.

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2004/03/11/news/local/news08.txt

"This is timely because there are new efforts made to explore planets like Mars," said Scott Hughes, geosciences department chairman. "The interest has been there for decades. We hope that some of our research will contribute to humanity’s long-term plans to eventually put people on Mars."

ISU’s Mars research is aided by the university’s proximity to the Snake River Plain. The term, "Plains Style Volcanism," was coined to describe the Snake River Plain’s geological features and similar regions on Mars and other planetary bodies.

"Idaho is an ideal place to observe Mars-like volcanic features where hundreds of small basaltic shields dominate the volcanic and sedimentary depositional sequence," Hughes said. "The shapes and surface characteristics of small shield volcanoes on the Snake River Plain provide a method to evaluate eruptive processes and magmatic evolution on Martian volcanic plains."

Shield volcanoes have broad, gentle slopes built by the eruption of basalt lava.

To better understand similar volcanoes on Mars, ISU’s research team analyzes topographic (physical or natural features) evidence for changes in the volcanic eruptive style and the origin of magma that feeds small volcanoes along the Snake River.

The team has found Mars-SRP similarities aside from shields, including evidence of lava flows coming in contact with surface water and glacial ice, and abundant windblown sand and silt.

ISU’s tools to study Mars are high-resolution imagery and digital topographic data from the Mars Orbital Camera, Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter, and Thermal Emission Imaging System, all of which orbit Mars.

SRP research is accomplished by ground-level fieldwork, computer-enhanced elevation data from U. S. Geological Survey digital models, and high-precision global positioning system field measurements.

ISU’s conference presentations are part of a three-year $570,000 NASA grant spearheaded by associate geosciences professor Glenn Thackray, the principal investigator, and assistant research geosciences professor Nancy Glenn.

Hughes and geosciences professor David Rodgers are co-investigators.

Geosciences postdoctoral research associate John Chadwick and Hughes are doing the majority of the Mars-related research with extensive student participation.

ISU will present four papers at the LPSC, and Hughes will convene the session on "Mars Tectonism and Volcanism."

Copyright © 2004 Pocatello Idaho State Journal
P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431

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