New studies reveal how Martian volcanoes helped shape red planet’s climate
Image of Mars' Arsia Mons volcano taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on May 2. Courtesy of NASA
Unraveling the volcanic history of Mars is not just a scientific pursuit but a key to unlocking the planet’s geological past, internal structure and potential habitability.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Arizona State University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveal that volcanism, far from being a mere sculptor of the Martian landscape, may have been a crucial player in delivering water to the surface and shaping the planet’s climate.
The study was led by Saira Hamid, Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, together with Laura Kerber of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Professor Amanda Clarke, also in the School of Earth and Space Exploration.
“Volcanic eruptions are often seen as destructive forces, but on Mars they may have triggered precipitation events that helped create conditions where water — and perhaps life — could once exist,” Hamid said.
Hamid is also leading related studies on volcanic activity on Mars. The scientists employed a cutting-edge planetary climate model developed by France’s Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique. This sophisticated tool was used to simulate how volcanic emissions of water influenced Mars’ atmosphere, climate and surface, providing a detailed understanding of the planet’s water cycle and ice deposits.
Quiet volcanoes
In a 2024 Icarus study led by Hamid, Kerber, Clarke and François Forget of the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, the team examined passive degassing, a quiet process where volcanoes release water vapor even when not erupting.
Surprisingly, this quiet activity may have built up ice deposits across a wide range of latitudes, not just at the poles or in high-altitude regions like the Tharsis Rise.
By meticulously modeling five volcanic centers across Mars — Cerberus Fossae, Apollinaris Mons, Elysium Mons, Hadriacus Mons and Pityusa Patera — the researchers demonstrated how water vapor could condense and fall as ice or accumulate as frost, particularly under favorable Mars orbit and climate conditions.
These small additions over time could have led to the creation of ice layers meters thick, some of which may still be preserved beneath dust or ash.
Lava flows and tropical ice
In a recent Earth and Planetary Science Letters study, Hamid, Kerber, Clarke and collaborators from other institutions turned their attention to effusive eruptions, particularly those from the Cerberus Fossae Athabasca Valles Flood Lava, one of the youngest and best-preserved lava flows on Mars.
This focus on a specific type of volcanic activity allows the team to delve deeper into the complex interplay between volcanic eruptions and the Martian climate, potentially revealing even more about the red planet's past and future.
“By studying these young effusive eruptions, we’re seeing how even relatively recent volcanic activity could have dramatically reshaped Mars’ surface and atmosphere. It’s fascinating to think that a single eruption could create atmospheric warming, only to plunge Mars back into a deep freeze soon after,” Hamid said. “It’s a reminder that Mars still has stories to tell about climate, volcanism and change.”
These eruptions released both lava and water vapor, creating transient warming in the atmosphere followed by dramatic cooling as volcanic clouds thickened. This cooling led to the surprising formation of tropical ice deposits, which may help to explain the presence of features like rootless cones, formed when lava interacts explosively with ice.
These findings are pivotal in understanding recent Martian climate events and suggest that future eruptions in this region — which may still be volcanically active — could transiently alter the planet’s water cycle once more.
Explosive eruptions and buried ice
The team’s recent investigation focused on explosive eruptions, which violently eject gases high into the atmosphere. These powerful events were common in Mars’ early history and could have released massive pulses of water vapor that quickly froze and fell as snow or icy ash.
Their models show that a single eruption from the volcanoes Syrtis Major and Apollinaris Mons could blanket the surface with up to 5 meters (16 feet) of ice, particularly in equatorial regions, which are not usually cold enough to sustain surface ice today.
Even more intriguing, this ice could have lasted for millions of years if shielded by dust, ash or stabilized by volcanic gases like sulfuric acid that cooled the planet’s atmosphere. Over time, such eruptions may have built up extensive subsurface ice reserves near the equator, helping explain puzzling signs of buried ice seen by orbiters today.
Implications for Mars’ climate and habitability
Together, these studies suggest that Martian volcanoes — not just dramatic eruptions, but also quiet outgassing — may have significantly influenced the planet’s climate evolution and helped deliver and preserve surface water ice, a key ingredient for potential life.
“These findings shift our view of how and where ice could have formed on Mars,” Hamid said. “They show that volcanic activity may have created and preserved water-rich environments far from the poles — possibly for billions of years.”
Comprehending the climate and water cycle on early Mars is crucial for scientists to evaluate its past habitability and to guide future missions in search of signs of life beneath the surface.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
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