Abstract
Review of morphologic, morphometric and compositional data from Mars suggests that volcanism in the early Hesperian Syrtis Major edifice was predominantly ultramafic, in contrast to the abundant basaltic volcanism of the Hesperian to Amazonian Tharsis and Elysium provinces. Comparisons of edifice characteristics between Syrtis Major and the large, circum-Hellas Noachian to Hesperian volcanoes suggest that these structures may also be formed by ultramafic volcanic activity. The data suggest that a global scale magma compositional change occurred on Mars during the late Hesperian. The occurrence of widespread ultramafic volcanism suggests that a high degree of partial melting in a relatively hot mantle characterized Mars’ early thermal history, conditions that may be analogous to those that prevailed in the Archean Earth.
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