A new study using satellite imagery and ground-penetrating radar has revealed signs of volcanic activity occurring much earlier than anyone expected. This discovery, along with other evidence, suggests there is much more going on beneath the barren crust of Mars than meets the eye.

Research conducted in the plain known as Elysium Planitia revealed volcanic activities that occurred in the last 120 million years. In fact, some of the volcanoes detected date back to 1 million years ago. From a geological point of view, this is a very new event; Although we have not yet seen any volcanic activity occurring, this indicates that there may be volcanic activity on Mars as well.

“Elysium Planitia was much more volcanically active than previously thought, and may even be volcanically active today,” explains planetary scientist Joanna Voigt of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who led the study with planetary scientist Christopher Hamilton of the University of Arizona.

The surface of Mars in Elysium Planitia is pretty interesting if you like rocks (and who doesn’t). Some of the lava flows above the surface appear to be extremely young, which somewhat surprised scientists when they spotted it.

The landscape also appears to have features carved by lava that interacts with ice or liquid water, causing steam explosions. This is very interesting because terrestrial landscapes such as hot springs that combine hot geological activity with water unexpectedly thrive with microbial life. The parallels between Earth and Mars have not gone unnoticed, and scientists believe life could emerge in these landscapes.

To better understand the volcanic history of the region, the researchers combined data from a variety of tools: topographic maps to reveal the shape of the surface, satellite images to study features, and ground-penetrating radar to obtain density maps down to 140 meters (460 feet) of the surface.

“Elysium Planitia is an ideal place to try to understand the connection between what we see on the surface and the internal dynamics that occur through volcanic eruptions,” Voigt says.

“I paid close attention to the details on the surface of the lava to unravel the different eruptive events and reconstruct the entire history of these geological formations.” The study allowed researchers to map and reconstruct each lava flow at Planitia. 3D Elysium reveals that the landscape was formed by more than 40 volcanic events dating back 120 million to 1 million years ago.

Some of them were absolutely epic. An eruption filled Rahway Valles with more than 16,000 cubic kilometers (3,840 cu mi) of molten basalt; Another is 12,200 cubic kilometers in Marte Vallis. The third filled the Athabasca Valles with 4,000 cubic kilometers of molten rock.

Although Mars currently appears dry, the vents that allowed this lava to flow out may have simultaneously released catastrophic groundwater floods, causing highly explosive events that shaped the landscape. Here on Earth, the addition of steam leads to some of the most explosive volcanic eruptions.

“When there is a crack in the crust of Mars, water can flow to the surface,” explains Hamilton. “Due to low atmospheric pressure, this water will likely literally boil away. However, if enough water is released during this period, a massive flood could occur that would overwhelm the landscape and shatter these huge details we see.”

Previous studies have shown that volcanic structures on the surface of Planitia Elysium may be as small as 50,000 years old. We’ve also seen a surprising number of earthquakes on Mars, some related to volcanism, thanks to seismic data collected by the now-retired Mars InSight lander. Volcanism is quite extensive.