Martian 'mud' volcanoes eyed for life

[Judi Lynn]

Martian 'mud' volcanoes eyed for life
Published: Aug. 19, 2010 at 6:19 PM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Researchers say if life existed on Mars, the best place to look today is a region rich in what they say were mud volcanoes spewing sediment from underground.

An area of the planet's northern plains called Acidalia Planita contains thousands of the circular mounds, formed from ancient sediment that might contain evidence of possible past or present life, Astrobiology magazine reports.

"If there was life on Mars, it probably developed in a fluid-rich environment," Dorothy Oehler of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center said.

"Mud volcanoes themselves are an indicator of a fluid-rich subsurface, and they bring up material from relatively deep parts of the subsurface that we might not have a chance to see otherwise," she said.

More:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/08/19/Martian-mud-volcanoes-eyed-for-life/UPI-25581282256374/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Image from another link:

http://cdn.physorg.com.nyud.net:8090/newman/gfx/news/mudvolcanoes.jpg

Mud Volcanoes on Mars
August 19, 2010 by Anuradha K. Herath

http://www.physorg.com/news201452152.html