Mars’ lake may need an underground volcano to exist

Scientists try to explain how a body of water could remain liquid in such a cold environment

Mars ice caps

WARMED FROM WITHIN?  Mars has frigid polar ice caps. But a theoretical underground chamber of magma could help melt ice near the south pole, creating what some scientists think is a lake hiding under the ice.

NASA, ESA and STScI

If Mars conceals a lake beneath its south polar ice cap, the planet must also have a hidden chamber of magma to keep the water liquid, a new analysis suggests.