In 2017, volcanic activity on Mars was studied and the results bolstered the belief that life may have existed on the planet. The largest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, is more than three billion years old, and it was understood to have been long dormant. However, lava flows near its summit have been recently dated at only two million years old. In geological terms, that is fairly recent. This implies that the volcano is not yet extinct; it is in fact now classified as active. The possibility of an eruption cannot be ruled out. Geologically, that is. Smaller than Earth, the planet would have cooled faster than ours after it formed. It was, for a time, quite volcanically active.

With this information, fresh research has been undertaken on other parts of the planet. Teams have been looking for similar profiles and similar possibilities, and the search has led to a surprising discovery in the Valles Marineris canyon system—the existence of younger volcanoes. Using an image spectrometer, the minerals on the cone of one of these volcanoes have been discovered to be the kind that form when heated rocks come into contact with groundwater. This is further proof of the idea that Mars may have looked very different in the past, with the presence of heat, water and chemical energy. This combination is considered to be ideal for supporting microbial life akin to the kind found in hot springs on Earth.