Eruption constraints on tube-fed planetary lava flows

We examine the role of pressure and gravity as driving forces in planetary lava tubes for Newtonian and power law rheologies. The tubes are assumed to have been filled with lava that was emplaced in constant diameter circular tubes in the laminar flow regime and had constant density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and viscosity. Our model provides relationships between tube dimensions, driving forces, and effusion rates and rheology parameters. In general, the pressure term in the driving force dominates for very small slopes, but the gravity term eclipses the pressure term as the slope increases. Applying the model to Alba Patera tube flows suggests effusion rates somewhere between 2 and 105 m3/s and viscosities between 102 and 106 Pa s, with tighter constraints (2 to 4 orders of magnitude) for specific tube sizes and travel times. These effusion rate results are lower and the viscosity ranges are higher than those found in previous studies. This allows eruptions that are closer in style to terrestrial basaltic eruptions, although the flows are still considerably larger in scale than the Hawaiian tube flows. We find that very low lava viscosities are not essential for Alba Patera lava tubes and that tube formation may be a better indicator of the steadiness of the eruption and the presence of low slopes than it is of low viscosities (e.g., 102 Pa s). In addition, this analysis suggests that the tube systems on the steep flanks of Olympus Mons are fundamentally different from those at Alba Patera. The Olympus Mons flows could not have roofed over, been continuously full, or maintained a continuous lava tube transport system in the assumed full, steady, and fully developed conditions.