Alien life existed near ancient mile-deep lake, active volcanoes on Mars? Scientists suggest so

The hunt for extraterrestrial life on other planets has continued for years with scientists hoping to find slight evidence of the existence of life beyond the world.

Now while studying the tectonic activity, which took place around 4 billion years ago on Mars, the scientists found that there were 63 types of volcanoes which were strangely different from the rest of the Martian highlands.

A team of planetary scientists discovered that the landscape of the Eridania region of Mars, where these volcanoes were located, had been shaped in response to the changes which occurred within the crust of Mars.

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The discovery is likely to influence the hunt for signs of alien life on Mars which is being studied by NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.

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"The large basins in this region once hosted a lake system known as the Eridania paleolake, which was up to around a mile deep when the lake was at its greatest extent," said team member and planetary geologist, who was at the Planetary Science Institute Aster Cowart while speaking to Space.com.

"Long-lived volcanic sources next to abundant water may have fuelled hydrothermal systems that could have nurtured life. At the very least, these findings give us a larger number of places we can look for evidence of life," he added.

No volcanic or tectonic activity on modern-day Mars

Unlike the present-day Earth, Mars today has little or no volcanic and tectonic activity.

Additionally, since nearly half of the surface of Mars appears older than 3.5 billion years, it suggests that crustal recycling has not taken place extensively on the Red Planet.

The crustal recycling on planet Earth is driven by plate tectonics when one tectonic plate slips under another and leads to causing surface material to get recycled into the mantle between the crust of the Earth and its molten core.

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The team, which carried out this research, studied the mineralogy and morphology of the Mars' Eridania region with the use of data collected from spacecraft around the planet, which included the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

"Various attributes of the Eridania region have drawn special attention for a while," said Cowart.

"Gamma-ray spectroscopy shows this to be a region of the crust with an especially distinctive composition, gravity data has shown it to be generally less dense and thicker than the rest of the Martian crust, and magnetic data shows it to be an intensely magnetized crust," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)