Massive Martian active volcano taller than Everest

By Imogen Howse via SWNS

A giant, active volcano taller than Everest has been discovered on Mars after decades of ‘hiding in plain sight’.

Scientists hope that mineral-rich areas where ice has melted could provide signs of life on the red planet.

Scientists found the volcano, temporarily dubbed the ‘Noctis’, in the eastern part of Mars’ Tharis province near the planet’s equator.

It is 280 miles wide, more than the distance between New York City and Washington D.C., and more than 9,000 meters high – which makes it a few hundred meters taller than Mount Everest.

The volcano has been seen repeatedly by NASA’s orbiting spacecraft since 1971 but was only discovered now because it was deeply eroded and therefore beyond simple recognition.

The team of scientists says the volcano's size and 'complex modification history' indicate that it has been active for a very long time.

They also believe a possible sheet of glacier ice may be buried beneath the volcano – which could offer brand new information about Mars’ evolution through time.

Lead author Dr. Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute, said: “We were examining the geology of an area where we had previously found the remains of a glacier when we realized we were inside a huge and deeply eroded volcano.

“In its southeastern part lies a thin, recent, volcanic deposit, beneath which glacier ice is likely still present.

“The combined giant volcano and possible glacier ice discovery is significant, as it points to an exciting new location to study Mars’ geologic evolution through time, search for life, and explore with robots and humans in the future.”

Revealing the groundbreaking discovery in Texas, the teams from the SETI Institute and Mars Institute said that this area of Mars has long been known to have a variety of minerals linked to volcanoes.

“A volcanic setting for these minerals had long been suspected, so it may not be too surprising to find a volcano here,” explained co-author Sourabh Shubham, a graduate student at the University of Maryland in the US.

“In some sense, this volcano is a long-sought ‘smoking gun’.”

Shubham added that the team had identified the volcano in the east of Mars' Noctis Labyrinthus while studying potential glacier remains nearby.

The team’s analysis revealed that the volcano had been through a lengthy and ‘complex’ period of change over the years – likely from a combination of fracturing, thermal erosion, and glacial erosion.

Some of this was prompted by the accumulation of ice from repeated buildups of snow, which caused lava to rise through different parts of the volcano.

This then resulted in the erosion and subsequent collapse of entire sections of the volcano.

Scientists also found evidence of lava flows, hydrated mineral deposits, and pyroclastic deposits (such as ash, cinders, and pumice) in several areas within the volcano’s perimeter.

However, much about the newly discovered volcano remains a mystery, the team admitted.

“Although it is clear that the volcano has been active for a long time and began to build up early in Mars’ history, it is unknown how early exactly,” said Shubham.

“Similarly, although it has experienced eruptions even in modern times, it is unknown if it is still volcanically active and might erupt again.

“And if it has been active for a very long time, could the combination of sustained warmth and water from ice have allowed the site to harbor life?”

But Dr. Lee insisted that the discovery made still offers plenty of excitement in terms of further exploration of Mars – explaining that the indications of heat interacting with ice make this spot on the planet ‘a prime location for our search for signs of life’.

“It’s really a combination of things that makes the Noctis volcano site exceptionally exciting,” he said.

“It’s an ancient and long-lived volcano 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.

“It has also had a long history of heat interacting with water and ice, which makes it a prime location for astrobiology and our search for signs of life.

“Finally, with glacier ice likely still preserved near the surface in a relatively warm equatorial region on Mars, it may be possible for us to extract water for hydration and for manufacturing rocket fuel.

“This place is therefore looking very attractive for robotic and human exploration.”

The groundbreaking discovery, conducted using data from NASA’s Mariner 9, Viking Orbiter 1 and 2, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions, was unveiled at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Although huge, the volcano is nowhere near the size of Olympus Mons, also on Mars, which stands nearly 22km tall, two and a half times the height of Everest.