Scientists may have just identified the culprit behind signs of recently active volcanism on Mars.
"Although Mars is smaller than the Earth, the formation of similarly large plume heads is expected given the lower gravity and higher viscosity of the Martian mantle,""The best-fit plume head center, based solely on gravity and topography data, is precisely located at the center of the Cerberus Fossae, where both recent volcanism and most marsquakes have been located."
This, the researchers say, means that Mars would be the third Solar System planet with mantle plume activity, joining Earth andIt's a result that means some pretty interesting things for Mars. Maybe not surface volcanoes spewing lava everywhere, but interior heating that could keepfrom freezing solid. This has implications for the search for Martian life – microbes that might be hidden in such lakes, living their quiet lives away from human detection.
"Ongoing plume activity demonstrates that Mars is not only seismically and volcanically active today, but possesses a geodynamically active interior as well,""A plume beneath Elysium Planitia also indicates that the surface volcanic flows and seismic activity are not isolated events, but part of a long-lived, actively sustained, regional system, with implications for the longevity and astrobiological potential of subsurface habitable environments.
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