NASA: 'Ancient Mars Had Volcanoes Under Ice Sheet'

Mars' volcanic eruptions beneath the planet's ice sheet occurred billion years ago. This is based on the new evidence gathered through NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, suggesting that the volcanic events are far from other ice sheets on the planet today.

The study of the Red Planet's volcanoes implies that extensive ice can be found on ancient Mars. Furthermore, it provided additional information regarding an environment, combined with moisture and heat, which may have likely given suitable conditions for microbial life, Cosmos Magazine reported.

The southern region of Mars named "Sisyphi Montes" was examined, specifically its surface composition, through the mineral-mapping spectrometer of the orbiter and evaluated with flat-topped mountains. Previous researches have noted the similarity of these domes in terms of shape to the volcanoes found on Earth, which have erupted underneath the ice.

According to the study, once the volcano starts to erupt beneath the Earth's sheet of ice, the quickly produced steam would usually result in explosions, which punch through the ice, tossing the ash into the sky. The characteristic minerals caused by Earth's subglacial volcanism include clays, zeolites and sulphates, which have been found by the new research at some flat-topped mountains in the region of Sisyphi Montes. This was studied through the spacecraft's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars that give 60 feet per pixel of resolution.

This Sisyphi Montes region reaches from 55° to 75° south latitude. Few sites with compositions and shapes consistent with the volcanic eruptions that occurred beneath an ice sheet are 1,000 miles away from Mar's present south polar ice cap. Today, this cap has already a diameter of 220 miles.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project has used CRISM, as well as five more instruments to study the Red Planet since 2006. The project is under NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Meanwhile, NASA has two rovers and three active orbiters at Mars to provide additional knowledge regarding the planet, which could be helpful in planning future explorations that would require taking humans there, according to Phys.Org.