A Collapsed Martian Lava Chamber, Seen From Space
Lava tubes and chambers attract a lot of attention as potential sites for bases on the Moon and Mars. They provide protection from radiation, from temperature swings, and even from meteorites. They beg to be explored. Volcanoes are just the most obvious and the largest manifestations of a planet’s volcanic activity. In reality, most of what creates a volcano happens deep underground. That’s true of Earth and Mars. Volcanic activity can move an enormous amount of liquid rock, pushing it around and forming an interconnected network of lava tubes and chambers. The lava can drain away, leaving an empty cave or tube. Sometimes the roof collapses, forming what’s known as a skylight. There are many of them on the Moon, where they’ve attracted everyone’s attention. The skylight can provide easy access to what could be underground refuges in some cases. Mars has them too, and NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured an image of one with its HiRISE camera. It’s in the Hephaestus Fossae Region in Utopia Planitia on Mars. Hephaestus Fossae is a system of channels and troughs. It’s connected to the nearby Elysium volcanic center, and melt water from a nearby impact may have helped create it, too. There’s some uncertainty.
