2026-10-06T10:37:50Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33713023 2026-09-21T16:31:54Z category_36995 category_32552 portal_1017 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Catalog of sinuous rilles on Tharsis Montes' Rift Aprons, Mars Sean Peters (24649311) Kijani Derenoncourt (24863222) Space sciences Geology Mars volcanology lava flows thermomechanical erosion planetary geology <p dir="ltr">Sinuous rilles have been observed on the Moon, Venus, and Mars and appear to have been carved by hot, flowing lava.  Sinuous rilles are observed on the slopes of three large shield volcanoes on Mars, collectively known as the Tharsis Montes, which occur in a line oriented NE-SW. Specifically, the sinuous rilles occur on the rift aprons - large fan-shaped deposits located to the southwest and northeast - of each Tharsis Montes.  We can use the size and shape of sinuous rilles to estimate how they formed.  In this study, we created a novel dataset of 157 sinuous rilles total across the six rift aprons. We measured the length, width, and depth of the sinuous rilles.  Furthermore, we measured the slope of the surfaces on which they occurred and calculated how much they wiggle (sinuosity). The size and shape of sinuous rilles identified on the Tharsis Montes’ rift aprons are broadly similar to those observed on the Moon albeit somewhat smaller, likely owing to higher martian gravity. These sinuous rilles suggest the energetic eruption of hot lava in the relatively recent martian past and the existence of a large magma source below the three volcanoes. </p> 2026-09-21T16:31:54Z Dataset Dataset 10.57968/Middlebury.33713023.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Catalog_of_sinuous_rilles_on_Tharsis_Montes_Rift_Aprons_Mars/33713023 CC BY 4.0