Mars supervolcano eruption and Earth's dinosaurs extinction happened about the same time

Arsia Mons Mountain is southernmost of the famous trio of giant Martian shield supervolcanoes, giant chain with total length about 2 000 kilometers. Its height is 19 kilometers, diameter at the foot - 435 kilometers, caldera width - 110 kilometers. Arsia Mons is second highest volcano in the Solar system, just behind  Olympus Mons. Mars has not plate tectonic and shield volcanoes may stay at one place billion years, slowly growing in height during eruptions. But when growing process ceased, if it ceased at all?

Image: Wikipedia

Authors of NASA research revealed when last time Arsia Mons was active. To date age of ancient lava flows they counted volcanic vents.  The most recent volcanic activity is thought to have taken place in the caldera—the bowl-shaped depression at the top—where 29 volcanic vents have been identified. Less vents in the area means "fresher" lava flow.

Scientists concluded that the oldest flows are about 200 million years old, the youngest - in range 10 - 90 million years, the most probable age is about 50 million years -  Cretaceous-Paleogene period, when dinosaurs went extinct on Earth. The peak activity was achieved about 150 million years ago, when volcano erupted each 1 -3 million years,  producing 1 - 8 cubic kilometers of lava per million years.

Image:  NASA/JPL/USGS  Images from Viking-1 orbiter of 1976-1980

So, in geological scale, Arsia Mons erupted quite recently. Another report, published in 2006 confirms this hypothesis - it says that between 100 and 200 million years ago there was a peak of volcanism on Mars, and Olympus Mons, giant #1, last time it erupted just several million years ago.

Maybe, it is time to reconsider Martian supervolcanoes definitions. We call them dead, but is it possible that they sleep and and will awake when the time will come.

For further reading: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X16306057

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/mars-volcano-earths-dinosaurs-went-extinct-about-the-same-time