earth science

Pavonis Mons

Pavonis Mons is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pavonis Mons rather than just read about it. In short: Pavonis Mons (Latin for "peacock mountain") is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the middle member of a chain of three volcanic mountains (collectively known as the Tharsis Montes) that straddle the Martian equator between longitudes 235°E and 259°E.

Key takeaways

Pavonis Mons belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pavonis Mons to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pavonis Mons from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pavonis Mons (Latin for "peacock mountain") is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the middle member of a chain of three volcanic mountains (collectively known as the Tharsis Montes) that straddle the Martian equator between longitudes 235°E and 259°E. The volcano was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971, and was originally called Middle Spot. Its name formally became Pavonis Mons in 1973. The equatorial location of its peak and its height make it the ideal terminus for a space elevator, and it has often been proposed as a space elevator location, especially in science fiction. It is also an ideal location for a Sky Ramp.

General description

Pavonis Mons stands at the southern edge of the Tharsis quadrangle - approximately 400 km southwest of Ascraeus Mons (the northernmost of the Tharsis Montes) and 400 km northeast of Arsia Mons (the southernmost member of the chain). The Tharsis Montes volcanoes lie along the crest of a northeast-trending rise (Tharsis bulge) that extends more than 3,000 km across the western equatorial region of Mars. Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the Solar System lies at the edge of the Tharsis bulge, about 1,200 km northwest of Pavonis Mons. Pavonis Mons is the smallest of the Tharsis Montes volcanoes, measuring about 375 km across and standing 14 km above Mars's mean surface level. As a shield volcano, Pavonis Mons has an extremely low profile with flank slopes that average only 4°. The summit contains a deep, circular caldera that is 47 km in diameter and almost 5 km deep. A larger, shallower depression lies immediately northeast of the smaller caldera. The large depression is about 90 km in diameter and structurally more complex than the small caldera. Like most of the Tharsis region, Pavonis Mons has a high albedo (reflectivity) and low thermal inertia, indicating that the volcano and surrounding areas are covered with large amounts of fine dust (see Martian surface). The dust forms a mantle over the surface that obscures or mutes much of the fine-scale topography and geology of the region. Tharsis is probably dusty because of its high elevations. The summit experiences an atmospheric pressure of around 130 Pa (1.3 mbar), about 21% of Mars's mean surface pressure. The atmospheric density is too low to mobilize and remove dust once it is deposited.

Geology

The bulk of the volcano's surface consists of lava flows of the early Amazonian age. The northern flanks of the volcano are highly faulted with grabens and normal faults concentric to the volcano's summit caldera. To its lower east flank, there is a chain of elliptical, or oval-shaped, pits, lined up down the center of a shallow trough. These features were formed by faulting and associated collapse; the scarp on each side of the trough is a fault line.

Glaciers Using MGS and Odyssey data, combined with developments in the study of glaciers, scientists suggest that glaciers once existed on Pavonis Mons and probably still do to some extent. Evidence for this includes concentric ridges (moraines "dropped" by glaciers), a knobby area (caused by ice sublimating), and a smooth section that flows over other deposits (debris-covered glacial ice). The ice could have been deposited when the tilt of Mars changed the climate, thereby causing more moisture to be present in the atmosphere. Studies suggest the glaciation happened in the Late Amazonian period, the most recent period in Mars chronology. Multiple stages of glaciation probably occurred. The ice present today represents one more resource for possible future colonization of the planet.

Possible evidence of plate tectonics Pavonis Mons is the middle of three volcanos (collectively known as Tharsis Montes) on the Tharsis bulge near the equator of the planet Mars. The other Tharsis volcanoes are Ascraeus Mons and Arsia Mons. The three Tharsis Montes, together with some smaller volcanoes to the north, form a fairly straight line. It has been proposed that this straight line of volcanoes is the result of the sort of plate motion which on Earth makes chains of "hot spot" volcanoes.

In popular culture Pavonis Mons provides the putative setting for the song "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" by The Flaming Lips, released as part of the album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. In Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, Mars's space elevator has its base on the southern rim of Pavonis – the highest place on the equator – and the city of Sheffield is built around it. Pavonis Mons is also the base of Mars's space elevator in the GURPS Transhuman Space roleplaying game setting. The city of New Shanghai, the largest on Mars, is built around the elevator. Deimos is used as the anchor, having been shifted from its current orbit. Pavonis Mons also hosts a space elevator in other GURPS settings, including GURPS Mars. Pavonis Mons hosts a space elevator to Deimos in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century franchise. Pavonis Mons is the name of a Settlement Defense Front destroyer in the game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare in the mission "Operation Deep Execute", Captain Khosi Siyada was the ship's commander.

Gallery

See also List of mountains on Mars by height Tharsis quadrangle

References

External links Geologic Map of Pavonis Mons Volcano, Mars, available as 16.3 Mb PDF file, U.S. Geological Survey 1998 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: A Hole in Mars (18 July 2012)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pavonis Mons

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pavonis Mons claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pavonis Mons before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pavonis Mons ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pavonis Mons

In research: Pavonis Mons appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pavonis Mons in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pavonis Mons is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mountains on Mars, Phoenicis Lacus quadrangle, Shield volcanoes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pavonis Mons outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pavonis Mons in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pavonis Mons means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pavonis Mons out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pavonis Mons in simple terms?

Why does Pavonis Mons matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pavonis Mons?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pavonis Mons.