SPACE.com
The residue of hydrothermal vents on the flanks of a volcano on Mars could be signs of one of the most recent habitable environments on the Red Planet, researchers suggest.
Scientists investigated data gathered on the Martian volcanoes in the Syrtis Major region of the Red Planet using a powerful spectrometer on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They focused specifically on deposits near the relatively young Nili Patera volcanic cone, which date back some 3.7 billion years to the Early Hesperian epoch, the beginning of the middle era of Mars' history. [Photo of the Martian volcano vents]
When hot water flows through rock, it dissolves minerals, enriching the water with silica, or silicon oxide. When this water cools off and is exposed to air, a material called hydrated silica crystallizes, which is what the investigators unexpectedly detected in the deposits near Nili Patera.
The discovery suggests that the vents once served as tiny habitable pockets on Marswhere primitive forms of life on Mars, if any ever existed, could have found refuge. To date, however, no definitive proof that Mars has ever supported any form of life has been found.
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