Could Mars' "ice cauldrons" signal early life on the Red Planet?

Impact

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin may have put us one step closer to discovering life on Mars. Unusual depressions on the planet similar to "ice cauldrons" on Earth, scientists say, could contain key ingredients for microbial life.

In a new study published in Icarus, an international journal of solar system studies, the Texas researchers detail their discovery of the depressions, which were found on Mars' Hellas basin and Galaxias Fossae region. The scientists noticed the depressions have similar "crack-like" features to "ice cauldron" formations found in Iceland and Greenland, which are made by volcanic eruptions that take place under an ice sheet, as summarized in the statement. The combination of lava and ice in these depressions would be significant, because it may mean that an environment could be created with liquid water and chemical nutrients that are essential for life on Earth.

Joseph Levy/NASA

"We were drawn to this site because it looked like it could host some of the key ingredients for habitability — water, heat and nutrients," lead author Joseph Levy, a research associate at the University's Institute of Geophysics, said in a statement. "These landforms caught our eye because they're weird looking. They're concentrically fractured so they look like a bulls-eye. That can be a very diagnostic pattern you see in Earth materials."

Oddur Sigurðsson/Icelandic Meteorological Office

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona via Getty Images

What these ice cauldrons contain and what their effect could be remains to be seen, of course, with the Texas researchers' discovery being just the first step in an exploration for signs of Martian life. 

But for those looking to make a drastic move once President Trump gains control of the nuclear codes, this news could be an encouraging sign.