A recent volcanic eruption on Mars has shown that there may be life beneath its surface

Although there is evidence of volcanic activity in Mars' ancient past, it has been assumed that it

ended millions of years ago.But now orbiters have discovered a large volcanic deposit that appears to be relatively new. He is only 53 thousand years old. Perhaps the Red Planet was recently inhabited and became home to bacteria living underground. Scientists even suggest that Mars is still inhabited.

It is believed that volcanism on the planet originated between about 3 and 4 billion years ago and has almost died down in the last few million years - despite a strange, very weak Marsquake.

However, scientists discovered from orbit in the regionElysium Planitia traces of recent volcanic activity. Elysium Planitia is a region on Mars between the Elysian Highlands and Cimmerian Land. Size - about 3,000 km from east to west and 1,000 km from north to south, center coordinates - 3° 00′ N. w. 154° 42′ E. d., 3.0° n. w. 154.7° E. d. Researchers from the University of Arizona claim that the discovered volcano footprint is unlike any other that has been observed in this area or anywhere else on Mars.

The white square indicates where "recent" occurrederuption NASA's InSight lander is about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away, and the large ancient volcano Elysium Mons rises above the plains to the northeast.  MOLA

Scientists have carefully examined the traces of a possiblevolcano and set the date of the last eruption - about 53 thousand years ago. This appears not to be the result of ordinary lava flow eruptions, but a more explosive event caused by the expansion of gases - a pyroclastic eruption. Researchers speculate that the event triggered the impact of a meteorite. The observation results are published in the Icarus journal.

The consequences of such a recent eruptionsignificant. Volcanic activity could potentially support subsurface microbial life by creating heat and circulating nutrients underground. A recent Brown University study found that Mars has favorable conditions for subsurface life today. A recent volcanic eruption on Mars supports this hypothesis.

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