By Vania Raebel | October 4, 2019
Spiral Patterns Made From Lava
Nope, these gorgeous spiral designs are not petroglyphs. Rather, they are lava coils. According to the University of Arizona team who work with the HiRise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, these beautiful coils are formed when two lava flows coming from different directions mingle and swirl.
Such lava coils can also be observed here on Earth, particularly on the Big Island of Hawaii. Submarine lava flows near the Galapagos Rift on the Pacific Ocean floor have been observed as well. However, while it does exist on earth, the size of the ones on Mars are significantly bigger. The largest lava coil measured on the Red Planet is 100 feet long, far greater than any that have been seen on Earth.
