The European Space Agency said an international team using the Trace Gas Orbiter detected anomalous hydrogen chloride (HCl) concentrations and surface fissures above Alba Mons on Mars, indicating residual subsurface heat that could support volcanic activity. In a Science Advances paper the researchers said HCl normally peaks in the Martian northern winter and disappears in summer, but anomalous HCl spikes were observed above some Alba Mons fissures in early northern summer; they hypothesise magm

The European Space Agency said an international team using the Trace Gas Orbiter detected anomalous hydrogen chloride (HCl) concentrations and surface fissures above Alba Mons on Mars, indicating residual subsurface heat that could support volcanic activity. In a Science Advances paper the researchers said HCl normally peaks in the Martian northern winter and disappears in summer, but anomalous HCl spikes were observed above some Alba Mons fissures in early northern summer; they hypothesise magmatic gases vent through fractures sealed by winter ice and released as ice melts, and note lava–groundwater interaction could create localized warm environments that merit targeted life-detection searches.