Scientists spot recent volcanic activity on Earth’s neighbour Mars

In a new survey, which was done using ground penetrating radar and satellite imagery, scientists spotted signs of volcanic activity, which may have taken place far more recently than was expected by anyone.

The discovery, when combined with other evidence, revealed that beneath its barren crust, Mars is likely to have quite a bit more going on compared to what is seen in the outside appearances.

The study was carried over a plain called the Elysium Planitia and it was revealed that the volcanic activity may have taken place in the last 120 million years.

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"Elysium Planitia is the youngest volcanic terrain on the planet, and studying it helps us to better understand Mars' past as well as recent hydrological and volcanic history," wrote the authors, in their paper.

Meanwhile, some of the volcanic activity which has been identified dates to only 1 million years ago.

This is very recent and geologically, the scientists have still not observed any volcanic activity actually taking place.

However, somewhere on Mars, this might exist as per recent studies.

Volcanic activity likely took place on Mars when dinosaurs roamed on Earth

According to scientists, the volcanic activity appeared very recent but they need to find where it actually took place.

"Elysium Planitia was volcanically much more active than previously thought and might even still be volcanically alive today," said Joana Voigt, who co-led the study alongside planetary scientist Christopher Hamilton of the University of Arizona and is a part of the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

As per the scientists, some of the lava flowing on the surface of Mars looked pretty young which left them baffled.

"Elysium Planitia is the perfect location to try to understand the link between what we see at the surface and the interior dynamics that manifested itself through volcanic eruptions,” said Voigt.

Watch:NASA's Perseverance Rover finds new clues about water on Mars

"I paid a lot of attention to the details on the lava surfaces to try and untangle the different eruption events and reconstruct the entire history of these geologic entities,” he added.

A plethora of quakes on Mars was recorded by NASA's InSight lander between 2018 and 2022 which proved that the red planet is anything but dead beneath its surface.

"Our study provides the most comprehensive account of geologically recent volcanism on a planet other than Earth," said Hamilton.

"It is the best estimate of Mars' young volcanic activity for about the past 120 million years, which corresponds to when the dinosaurs roamed on the Earth at their peak to present," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)