Researchers found that some areas in Martian lakes hold evidence which indicates that the red planet had an ancient habitable environment. In the study, researchers discovered that some of Mars' deepest basins were formed about 3 billions years ago by groundwater circulation below a massive tectonic rift zone, located along the edges of some of the Solar System's largest volcanic plateaus. These basins were gradually covered by lava and water lakes that were released from subsurface pressurized sources over the course of hundreds of millions of years, which suggests that Mars probably harbored life in the past.
"The temperature ranges, presence of liquid water, and nutrient availability, which characterize known habitable environments on Earth, have higher chances of forming on Mars in areas of long-lived water and volcanic processes," J. Alexis Rodriguez, coauthor of the study, said in a news release. "Existing salt deposits and sedimentary structures of possible emplacement within Martian paleo-lakes are of particular astrobiological importance when looking for past habitable areas on Mars."
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