Were the northern plains of Mars submerged in a vast flood as recently as 20,000 years ago? Geologists claim to have found evidence of a recent volcanic eruption under the ice cap that could have created a wall of water 200 metres high and 35 kilometres wide.
Signs of volcanic activity and flowing meltwater have been found before, but the new study links the two together with strong geological evidence, bolstering theories that water was the chief sculptor of the huge chasms in the northern martian ice cap. The flood, the researchers say, could have occurred within the past 10 million years and maybe as recently as 20,000 years ago — more evidence that Mars has not been a geological corpse since its wet and warm period billions of years ago.