An Analysis of Sediment Samples and Boulder Sizes from a Volcanic Crater

Since maars—volcanic craters formed when magma heats up an underground body of water until eruption—are formed by the same processeson Earth as they are on Mars, we were able to analyze a local maar to become more familiar with those found on Mars. The main reason maars are of interest is the fact they require water to be formed, and thus, water may be found in Mars’s maars. The main site of our investigation was the maar named Hole In The Ground in La Pine, Oregon. It was here that we took core soil samples, mapped the location and elevation of boulders, and photographed the crater with an infrared camera. The data we collected was then analyzed at the Oregon Coast Community College Central County Campus Lab. Here, we looked at the amounts of soil particles of different sizes and the proportions of each of three different materials found in the soil. This investigation, overall, provided us with details of specific characteristics of maars. Ultimately, scientists could use the data we collected here to accurately identify maars on Mars and subsequently begin to extract water from them, if there is any.