Scientists have been searching on the surface of Mars for any signs of alien life. Now, scientists are claiming that they have found a strange "funnel" that could be the best place to look for it.
The "funnel" or depression was found in a crater on edge of the Hellas basin.
According to Science Alert, it looked like the ancient "ice cauldrons" we have on Earth, that formed when volcanos erupted under the ice sheets of Iceland and Greenland. Scientists are suspecting that if it is what they think it is, it could contain water, heat, and nutrients, which are the primary ingredients of life.
Astrobio.net reported the formation was first seen by lead author Joseph Levy in 2009 on the photos taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It was only this year that they were able to look at the depression thoroughly using stereoscopic images which allow the image to be viewed with depth by showing two slightly offset images separately to each eye of the viewer. Similar formation was also spotted in the Galaxias Fossae region of Mars.
"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," Levy, a research associate at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, a research unit of the Jackson School of Geosciences, said in a press release.
After looking at the two depressions, researchers concluded that they were not the same and were formed in different ways. While the Hellas depression showed many signs of volcanic activity, the other did not. The Hellas depression is believed to have hosted a giant lake many years back while the Galaxias Fossae is believed to be an impact site.
The findings were published this month in Icarus, the International Journal of Solar System Studies.
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