Mysterious Martian Hole Puzzles Scientists: An Enigma Underground on The Red Planet : ScienceAlert

BY
ELLA BENNET
1 MIN READ
LAST UPDATED: 2024/06/12 AT 7:25 AM



Explorers venturing to Mars will need to find protection from the harsh environmental elements such as radiation, extreme temperature changes, and fierce dust storms. Earth and the Moon suggest that Mars might possess expansive subterranean networks of lava tubes, potentially suitable for habitation. Skylights, formed from collapsed segments of these tubes, might serve as gateways to these hidden shelters.

Could this intriguing hole on Mars be a doorway to a vast underground chamber?

The enigmatic image was taken by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

The opening, a mere meters wide, is situated in the Mars’ Arsia Mons area—one of a trio of dormant volcanoes making up the Tharsis Montes cluster.



COLOURIZED MARTIAN SURFACE, CRAFTED WITH MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER DATA, ILLUSTRATES THARSIS MONTES’ THREE VOLCANOES, WITH OLYMPUS MONS AND VALLES MARINERIS NEARBY. ARSIA MONS IS DEPICTED AT THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THARSIS MONTES. (NASA/JPL-CALTECH/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY)

The Tharsis Region, also known as Tharsis Bulge, spans thousands of kilometers as a colossal volcanic plateau, towering about 10 km (33,000 ft) above the average Martian altitude. Marked by past volcanic action, the region hosts features such as the pit in question as remnants of its fiery history.

Yet, ambiguity remains. The clearer view of a sidewall in one pit image could suggest it’s a mere cylindrical depression.



OLD PANORAMIC OF A PIT NEAR ARSIA MONS; SCIENTISTS SPECULATED ABOUT ITS CONNECTION TO LAVA TUBES OR CAVERNS. SUBSEQUENT IMAGES SHOWING A SIDEWALL CAST DOUBT ON SUCH CONNECTIONS. (NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA)

The subject pit might not signal an opening to a cave or lava tube but may be similar to Hawaiian pit craters, which are the aftermath of deep-subterranean collapses and don’t typically connect to extensive tubes or caverns.

More:
https://theubj.com/uae/science/158075/mysterious-martian-hole-puzzles-scientists-an-enigma-underground-on-the-red-planet-sciencealert/