Remote Sensing Of Thermally Induced Activity On Io And Mars

Abstract

My dissertation details the work I have done related to remote sensing of thermal activityon Io and thermal remote sensing used in the search for oases on Mars. At Io, I studiedtwo volcanoes, Tvashtar and Prometheus and their thermal activity. At Mars, I investigatedsuggestions of a possible oasis in one of the youngest volcanic regions, Cerberus Fossaeand nearby areas of SE Elysium.Tvashtar was the site of the first high-spatial-resolution observation of an extraterrestriallava curtain. The Tvashtar complex was also the site of a large, confined eruption a fewmonths after the fissure eruption. I discuss the work involved in estimating the brightnesstemperatures and power output of both eruptions as seen by the Galileo SSI. I also discusscooling and eruption-style models and their application to Tvashtar. In every geometricallycorrect observation of Prometheus, we have seen a 100 km tall SO2 gas and dust plumeabove its flow field. This plume and field migrated ~80 km between the Voyager and Galileo eras. I describe the work I performed in modeling the plume's creation as lava-volatileinteractions at the flow fronts.My Mars research entailed the search for thermal systems and constraints on nearsurfacewater ice in an equatorial region that contains some of the youngest lava flows onMars. This region, SE Elysium, also shows evidence of contemporaneous water and lava. Life as we know it requires a source of energy and liquid water, so a geologically youngregion containing both water and energy is an obvious place to study. I show, however, thatthe recent suggestions of extant near-surface water ice and possible endogenic energy escapeare not necessary, and that the thermal imaging of the region requires rock rather thanwater ice near the surface. I also show that the current instruments at Mars are insufficientfor the remote discovery of thermal reservoirs and then discuss some possible remedies.