Hidden Buildings Discovered Under Mars' Biggest Mountain And Ancient Ocean

sediments that were produced when Mars had substantial water cover structures; during the process of monitoring the planet's gravity, these high densities were discovered. But their nature and source are still unknown. According to the same mapping procedure, forces deep beneath the planet may be causing Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System, to erupt even greater.

Because there are currently so many satellites in orbit around Mars, we may use minute changes in their speed to identify localized variations in the Red Planet's gravity as they pass overhead. The results examing of these movements were given by Dr. Bart Root of the Delft University of Technology at the Europlanet Science Congress, which took place in Berlin last week.

Root emphasized the discovery of concealed constructions on the arctic plains in the north, where water drained when Mars had it.

"These compacted formations may have formed from ancient impacts or may have originated from volcanic activity. One of the approximately 20 features of various sizes that we have located in the region surrounding the North Polar Cap is shaped like a dog, according to a statement released by Root. "It appears that they are gone from view at the surface. But because of gravity measurements, we get a fascinating look into the northern hemisphere of Mars's past.

The areas surrounding the enigmatic structures have far lower densities than the mysterious structures themselves, ranging from 300 to 400 kg/m^� (19 to 25 pounds/ft^�). They are therefore only marginally below the density of the mantle and 10–13 percent over the normal density of the Martian crust.

Any of the hypotheses Root put up would alter our understanding of Mars. "If these structures are interpreted as impact craters, this would suggest of an older crustal age of the northern hemisphere of Mars than is currently considered," for example, write Root and colleagues.

Tharsis Rise, the region of Mars that contrasts most with the polar lowlands, is the source of the other significant feature that Root highlighted. The surrounding area is dominated by enormous mountains, the tallest of which is Olympus Mons, that dwarf everything on Earth.

The region surrounding the Tharsis area exhibits weak gravity, which poses a challenge. Although volcanoes themselves are the reverse, this must be the outcome of a wide area of low density.

According to Root and associates, there may be a low-density pocket 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) across located approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) below Mars, or one-third of the way to the planet's center. The region that Root found is substantially larger and likely 350 kilometers (217 miles) thick, but it is only marginally less dense than the surrounding area, at about 60 kilograms per cubic meter (3.7 pounds per cubic foot), which is a far smaller divergence than the polar formations. He explains this by saying that a massive plume of lava rose upward, leaving a comparative space behind. If this is the case, then this plume has not only produced volcanoes that are higher than twice as high as any on Earth, but it is also actively raising them.

Though there are growing indications that Mars may still be volcanically active, volcanologists have rarely dared to think about it.

"We now have critical new knowledge about Mars' hard outer layer thanks to the NASA InSight mission. This implies that our understanding of the support for the Olympus Mons volcano and its surrounds needs to be reconsidered," Root stated. "It shows that Mars might still have active movements happening inside it, affecting and possibly making new volcanic features on the surface."

The goal of Root's speech is to garner support for a more thorough mapping of Martian gravity through the use of technology similar to that discovered by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, which discovered a massive structure beneath the Lunar South Pole.

This is an abstract of Root's talk. During the same conference, a session covered the potential application of quantum technology for enhancing Root's planned gravitational mapping of Mars.