Mars Mission
01- Canals
02- Mariners
03- Riverbeds
04- Sub-surface Ice
05- Fleet
06- Martian Ice
07- Slope Streaks
08- Water Found
09- Phyllocian Era
10- Theikian Era
11- Siderikan Era
12- Martian Regions
13- Obliquity
14- Martian Tectonics
15- Topographic Morph
16- Crustal Magnetism
17- Original Impact
18- Polar Regions
19- Hydrated Minerals
20- Theikian Warming
21- New Phoenix Snow
22- Equatorial Glaciers
23- Ancient Ice
24- Continental Snow Drift

20 - Theikian Warming

Phyllocian, Theikian and Siderikan Eras - 4 to 3.5 billion years ago


 

In terms of global warming it is useful to re-cap on the new Martian geological periods;

The Phyllocian (named after the clay-rich phyllosilicate minerals that date from that epoch) lasted from the formation of the planet until around 4 billion years ago. In order for the phyllosilicates to form an alkaline water environment would have been present.

After this period was the Theiikian Era (named, in Greek, after the sulfate minerals that were formed), lasting until about 3,500 million years ago. This was a period of volcanic activity. In addition to lava, gases - and in particular sulfur dioxide - were released, combining with water to create sulfates and an acidic environment.

During the third, the Siderikan Era, from 3,500 million years ago until the present, with the end of volcanism and the absence of liquid water, the most notable geological process has been the oxidation of the iron-rich rocks by atmospheric peroxides, leading to the red iron oxides that give the planet its familiar colour.

In terms of the crustal movement and contraction I have suggested in the sections above, it is interesting to correlate this sequence of Epochs to the present Earth's global warming period, particularly in terms of the transition from the Phyllocian to the Theikian, which consisted of volcanic activity releasing gases into the atmosphere, creating an acidic environment and eventually resulting in the absence of water at the end of volcanism in the Siderikan. This transition from the Phyllocian to the Theikian bears the same basic hallmarks as the changes it is believed that this Earth will see over the coming centuries with Global Warming.

This is outlined in the Mars sub-section of 'Global Warming'.

   
  Alan Lambert © 2009