Kilometer-sized Cones on Mars: Igneous or Mud Volcanoes?

There is an ongoing debate within scientific community about the formation process of kilometer-sized cones reported from several regions on Mars. Two of the main mechanisms considered as possible explanations, are small scale igneous volcanism, and mud volcanism. It is important to differentiate between these two processes because of the very different implications these processes have for the Martian crust, near surface environment, and for the atmosphere. Both processes involve key factors of environmental habitability meaning that understanding the origin of these features is important in our understanding of recent habitability of Mars. The talk focuses about this debate and provides an overview of the state of the art in this field.