Scientists uncover extensive hidden magma system deep beneath Mars

Using seismic recordings from NASA's InSight lander, a team from the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol identified a sharp transition roughly 24 km beneath Mars' surface. Modeling indicates the lower layer consists of ultramafic rock, while the overlying crust is mafic, pointing to a long-lived magma chamber where dense crystals settled and lighter melts rose. This process, known as transcrustal magmatism, appears to have operated on Mars despite its stagnant-lid tectonic regime.

The inferred magma system may extend for hundreds to thousands of kilometres in the planet's northern region, implying a far more intricate volcanic history than previously thought. The discovery suggests that planetary habitability could arise on worlds without Earth-style plate tectonics, reshaping ideas about the conditions needed for life elsewhere.