Mars’ surface is a lifeless, unwelcoming desert. But beneath its red soil the planet still might be alive — geologically.
Big space news broke in 2018: Using a ground-penetrating radar aboard a Mars satellite, a group of scientists detected a thin 12-mile lake thousands of feet beneath the Martian south pole. Now, researchers have put forward a paper arguing that if there is indeed a sizable briny-lake underneath this ice cap, hot molten rock (magma) must have oozed up near the surface and melted the ice.
Such underground volcanism would have happened in geologically recent time, perhaps a few hundred thousand years ago, or less. Read more…