Rivers of magma once bubbled beneath crust of Mars, research suggests

Finding widens selection of rocky planets that may once have been habitable

Mars once had rivers of magma bubbling beneath its crust, new research suggests. The surprise find makes it more probable that Mars could have supported life and widens the selection of rocky planets that may once have been habitable.

Researchers at the University of Oxford studied data gathered by Nasa’s Insight Lander, which recorded seismic waves caused by meteorite impacts and Martian quakes. They used the seismic data to analyse a mysterious boundary 15 miles (24km) below the surface of Mars. Their findings, published in Nature Astronomy, showed that the most likely cause for this boundary was molten rock pooling deep underground and stretching sideways for hundreds or even thousands of miles.