An enormous volcano has been “hiding in plain sight” on Mars for decades, according to scientists.
The volcano, which is 280 miles wide, was found alongside a possible sheet of buried glacier ice in the eastern part of Mars’ Tharsis volcanic province, near the planet’s equator, scientists revealed at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in Texas on Wednesday.
They said the volcano, which has been temporarily named the Noctis volcano in honour of its location at the edge of scenic Noctis Labyrinthus (Labyrinth of the Night), had been seen repeatedly by Nasa’s orbiting spacecraft since 1971, but was deeply eroded and beyond easy recognition.
In a study about the discovery, the scientists said the volcano’s size and “complex modification history” suggest it’s been active for a very long time.
In its southeastern part, there’s an area where glacier ice is likely still present, which scientists believe could be just as significant to us as the volcano.
They think the discoveries point to an “exciting new location to study Mars’ geologic evolution through time, search for life, and explore with robots and humans in the future”.
The discovery was made while a team of scientists was studying suspected glacier remnants and a potential landing site for astronauts nearby.
The study was a joint effort between the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute based at NASA Ames Research Centre.
Read more:
Discovery may explain why Martians don’t exist
Likely cause of Mars’ biggest ever quake revealed
Explaining how it happened, Dr Pascal Lee, planetary scientist and lead author of the study, said: “We were examining the geology of an area where we had found the remains of a glacier last year when we realised we were inside a huge and deeply eroded volcano.”
Several clues gave away the volcanic nature of the jumble of layered hills and canyons found.
Here’s a more in-depth description of the structure found in the eastern part of Noctis Labyrinthus, provided by the SETI Institute:
“This area of Mars is known to have a wide variety of hydrated minerals spanning a long stretch of Martian history, said Sourabh Shubham, the study’s co-author.
“A volcanic setting for these minerals had long been suspected. So, it may not be too surprising to find a volcano here. In some sense, this large volcano is a long-sought ‘smoking gun’.”
Dr Lee says the Noctis volcano is so deeply eroded that “you could hike, drive, or fly through it to examine, sample, and date different parts of its interior to study Mars’ evolution through time”.
The scientists are now working on submitting their full study to a peer-reviewed publication.
I bet this boson is just a big, fat nothingburger.
This is a great day for science! This discovery could lead to new technologies that will benefit all of humanity.
I can’t believe they actually found it! This is incredible!
I’m not sure I believe this. I need to see more evidence before I make up my mind.
This is all just a bunch of nonsense. I don’t believe it for a second.
This is a waste of time and money. Who cares about some stupid boson?
I disagree with your conclusions. I think this discovery is very important.
I’m not sure I understand what this means. Can someone explain it to me in simpler terms?
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have made a groundbreaking discovery: they’ve detected the Higgs boson. This is an extremely important discovery as it could help us understand more about the fundamental building blocks of matter.
I’m just sad that I don’t understand any of this.
This is amazing! I can’t wait to learn more about this discovery.
Oh, wow, a new boson. That’s just what we needed.
I’m worried about the implications of this discovery. What if it means that the universe is not as stable as we thought?