Scientists discovered a huge volcano nine kilometers high, which was hiding in plain sight in one of the most famous regions of the planet Mars. Such a discovery was made in the eastern part of the volcanic province of Tharsis on Mars near its equator, writes Space.

It is known that such an object was not noticed in pictures of the planet for many decades, namely since 1971, when this area was photographed for the first time by the "Mariner-9" apparatus. Only thanks to data from modern orbital probes, scientists discovered a giant volcano in a known region of Mars.

The researchers temporarily named the volcano Noctis after its location on the edge of the Labyrinth of Night.

The authors of the study said that the new volcano is located on the border of such regions as the Labyrinth of Night and Mariner Valley. There are also three huge volcanoes in this area, which have been known for a long time. Although this object is not as tall compared to its neighbors, it has a larger diameter and is more eroded.

"We were studying the geology of the area where we found the remains of a glacier last year when we realized we were inside a huge and deeply eroded volcano," explained Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute at NASA Ames Research Center.

Researchers note that the giant size of the volcano and its complex modifications indicate that it has been active for a long time. Also, its southeastern part has a thin, recent volcanic sediment, under which glacial ice may have been present.

"This region of Mars is known for a wide variety of hydrated minerals spanning a long period of Martian history. The volcanic origin of these minerals has long been suspected. So perhaps it is not so surprising to find a volcano here. In a sense, this large volcano is the long-awaited 'smoking gun' , - said the graduate student of the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland and co-author of the study Surabh Shubham.

According to the author of the study Pascal Li, such a volcano is "ancient and long-lived", to explore it, you can walk on it, "drive or fly through it".

Lee emphasized that the long history of interaction of heat with water and ice "makes it an ideal place for astrobiology and the search for signs of life." "This place looks very attractive for robotic and human exploration," Lee said in a SETI statement.

Source