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Ask Dr. Universe geology
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What's the weirdest thing found on Mars? – Remmi, 8, Texas

Dear Remmi,

Mars is about 140 million miles from our cozy planet. A human mission to that cold, rocky neighbor would mean being away from Earth for about 3 years. But the things those explorers would see and learn would be mind-blowing.

I asked my friend Katie Cooper about that. She’s a scientist at Washington State University. She studies how geology and physics work on Earth and other places in space.

She told me the weirdest thing on Mars is a ginormous volcano.

“Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system,” Cooper said. “It dwarfs Earth’s volcanoes! Its massive size helps … » More …

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Recently there was an online news article that mentioned cold magma that was flowing on the land. What is cold magma? – Matt, 7, Illinois

Dear Matt,

When I think about volcanoes, I picture molten magma deep inside the Earth. Or burning hot lava pouring down the side of a mountain. But you’re right that there have been news reports that mention cold lava.

I talked about what that could be with my friend Katie Cooper. She’s a geologist at Washington State University.

She told me the news may be using “cold lava” to describe a lahar. That’s a mix of water and rocky debris that sometimes whooshes down the side of a volcano. It's also called a debris flow or a volcanic mud flow.

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