They find possible volcanoes that expel mud on Mars

This image from the University of Arizona’s HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s MRO Mars Orbiter suggests the existence of mud-spewing volcanoes on the Red Planet.

The photograph, taken on October 24, 2021 at an altitude of 303 kilometers, shows a flat plain with several low, lumpy mounds. Some of them have different colors and tones than the surrounding plains, suggesting that they are made of a different type of material.

While the origin of these mounds isn’t certain, one idea that seems to fit better is that they are deposits left over after eruptions of wet sediments on the surface, says a statement from the HiRISE team.

This can happen when thick deposits of wet sand and mud are shaken, for example by a meteorite impact, and the ground briefly loses its strength, allowing dirty water to be expelled from the deposit. On Earth, this “liquefaction” process can occur during earthquakes.

If this hypothesis is correct, it means that these mounds provide samples of a potentially habitable environment that we would otherwise need massive drilling to reach, the scientists conclude.