Amazing stuff!
"... hydrogen chloride (HCl) ... has just been detected on Mars. ...
The observation came from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a U.S.-Russia collaboration that measures atmospheric changes on the Red Planet. The orbiting spacecraft detected the gas above newly formed cracks on the surface of a giant volcano called Alba Mons.
Researchers think the gas may have seeped out from magma chambers underground, which would mean that the planet is still volcanically active. While discoveries of “Marsquakes” signaled that the planet wasn’t dead inside, it’s been tough to say for sure. ...
If Mars remains volcanically active today, pockets of heat could be trapped just under the surface—conditions not unlike hydrothermal vents, where life may have arisen on Earth. ..."
"... Confirmed volcanically active bodies are an elite club in our solar system — the planets Earth and Venus along with Jupiter's moon Io. ..."
From the abstract:
"Mars is reputed to lack ongoing volcanic activity. However, marsquakes were revealed recently, and clues to volcanism younger than tens of million years have accumulated.
While sulfur dioxide, so far undetected, could testify to ongoing eruptive activity, evidence of active magma chambers may be better identified by seepage of halogen gases, such as hydrogen chloride (HCl).
Observations by Atmospheric Chemistry Suite led to the widespread observations of HCl at part-per-billion levels in the atmosphere of Mars during the warm perihelion period, attributed to aerosol-atmospheric sources.
Here, we report HCl detections during the cold aphelion season that are isolated in the Alba Mons region.
We also identify fresh and narrow (<1 meter) fissures in this area, which we interpret to be potential HCl pathways rooted into magmatic bodies at depth. Our results are best explained by ongoing igneous processes in the Martian interior."
[1/2] The northern flanks of the Alba Mons volcano on Mars, in a wider context, are shown in an undated image released on November 4, 2026. It was in this region that the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter detected traces of hydrogen chloride, a pungent gas often produced by magmatism. MEX/HRSC global colour mosaic, ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, G. Michael. Inset: Blended MOLA-HRSC digital elevation model, Fergason et... Purchase Licensing Rights
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