Contrary to many previous studies that suggested that the last volcanic eruptions on Mars ended 2.5 billion years ago, new research by the University of Arizona, and the Smithsonian Institution (USA) shows that in an area region called Cerberus Fossae, an eruption that occurred only 53,000 years ago.
The strange crack suggests that Mars is most likely still geologically active enough to harbor a mysterious alien world.
All is shown through strange details in the photos that NASA’s spacecraft sent back to Earth. It is a fissure that has the same texture as the cracks that have been recorded in volcanic eruptions on the moon, Mercury and Earth. It appeared next to the supervolcano Elysium Mons that has long been thought to be “dead”.
Further study revealed that this was a very new fracture in the background of volcanic mud and ash from old eruptions, which had already been deposited as sediment. But a new and more intense activity is quietly occurring within the volcano that has heated the bedrock, causing cracks in the old sediment. This shows that the supervolcano Elysium Mons is still alive! On Earth, similar phenomena are often recorded in Hawaii.
It is estimated that the last eruption of this volcano was 53,000-210,000 years ago. As for geologic time, 53,000 years is just a moment: the volcano is still active, so to speak.
According to the authors, active volcanoes will help melt the ice below the surface, creating a body of water that is warm and has the materials needed to support life, like what happened on Earth. primitive land. “Cerberus Fossae is not extinct,” they concluded.
“For life, you need life energy, carbon, water and vitamins. Volcanoes provide all of this,” explains Professor Steven Anderson from the University of Northern Colorado, who was not involved in the study. and expressed support.
Even though it’s a terrifying natural disaster, volcanoes have long been recognized as essential to the life of a celestial body. Volcanoes are part of an activity called “plate tectonics” – the continuous movement of the planetary crustal plates. These activities keep a planet full of energy, while balancing the climate, promoting the reactions necessary for life to form and evolve.
In the Solar System, only the Earth and Jupiter’s moon Io have been identified as still experiencing plate tectonic activity, but moon Io’s activity is so excessive that it may not be habitable. However, before Mars, some scientists also suspect that Venus has plate tectonic activity. These are both planets in the “life zone” of the Solar System, next to Earth. So studies to identify evidence of tectonic activity on these two planets are being promoted.
Currently, Mars is being cared for by many NASA spacecraft and robots, including the InSight spacecraft that landed in 2018. One of the missions of this spacecraft is to find evidence of tectonic activity. Previous evidence increasingly supports the theory that Mars was once teeming with alien life forms, but became extinct when the world lost its oceans.