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Martian Mud Volcanos Could Be the Perfect Places to Look for Signs of Life

Now more than ever humanity is engaged in an all out race to prove or disprove the existence of life on Mars, be it present or long ago in the planet’s past.
Possible mud volcano on Mars 8 photos
Photo: NASA/JPL/UArizona
Strange nipple-like impact crater on MarsStrange nipple-like impact crater on MarsUtopia Planitia region of MarsUtopia Planitia region of MarsUtopia Planitia region of MarsUtopia Planitia region of MarsUtopia Planitia region of Mars
The most recent rover sent there, Perseverance, has been hard at work for more than a year now, drilling holes, analyzing, and even storing samples for a future mission to collect and return them back to Earth. It does this in a region of the planet called Jezero Crater.

Theoretically, NASA chose Jezero Crater as the landing spot for Perseverance because it believes the place might have once been flooded with water, and we all know where there’s water, life might develop.

But there are other locations on the planet that promise just as many incredible results, if not more, and we're far from checking them all out. Among such places are the so-called mud volcanos, areas where the planet’s internal turmoils may end up bringing to the surface, from deep underground,  all sorts of interesting stuff, usually in the form of wet sediments.

Reaching such sediments anywhere else might require massive drills, as per scientists, but that’s not the case with mud volcanos or other location with similar properties.

Described as a flat plain with various low, lumpy mounds, the place we see in this particular image came to be as a result of eruptions of wet sediments. These eruptions could have been caused by the planet itself, but also by a meteorite strike, with the ground losing “its strength, allowing dirty water to be expelled from the deposit,” in a process we know as liquefaction.

Whatever the origin of these mounds, the reality remains they could “provide samples of a potentially habitable environment.”

The image was snapped by HiRISE back in October last year, but the scientists over at NASA and the University of Arizona do not say which region of the planet it depicts.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows Utopia Planitia region of Mars.

About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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