| The surface of Mars is covered by volcanic features ranging in age from more than 4 billion to just a few million years. Current models for the processes responsible for this surprisingly prolonged magmatic activity lack consistency, mainly due to uncertainties in the composition of the Martian interior and the scarcity of systematic experimental data on melting processes in the deep Martian interior. The presence of significant amounts of water both on and inside Mars during earliest Martian history, as suggested by recent orbiter and lander observations, and the publication of a new compositional model for the Martian interior based on space mission data, allow a new approach to unravelling Martian magmatic history. This project aims to provide novel experimental constraints on Martian magmatism. First, the crystallization sequence of the Martian magma ocean, present early in Martian history, will be determined experimentally at high pressures and temperatures, using the latest space-mission-based estimate of Martian bulk mantle composition. The effect of the presence of water on magma ocean crystallization will also be quantified. Second, the compositional range of magma formed by subsequent high-pressure remelting of selected sections of magma ocean crystallization products will be investigated in dry and wet conditions. By comparing our results with currently available compositional surface data derived from orbiter, lander, and Martian meteorite data, we aim to provide improved constraints on source characteristics of the early Martian volcanism, leading to a new view of the early thermal and compositional evolution of rocky planetary bodies. |
