Deep beneath Mars, scientists find a vast hidden magma system

Deep beneath Mars, scientists have found evidence of enormous magmatic systems once thought to require Earth-like plate tectonics. Seismic measurements suggest molten rock repeatedly evolved and recycled itself through the Martian crust, potentially across hundreds or thousands of kilometers. The discovery challenges long-held ideas about how complex planetary crusts form.

Deep beneath Mars, scientists find a vast hidden magma system. (Artist’s illustration of NASA’s InSight lander on Mars.). The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, point to new possibilities for how rocky planets can evolve in ways that may support habitability.

Mars is commonly classified as a "stagnant lid" planet because, unlike Earth, its outer shell is not divided into moving tectonic plates. On Earth, plate tectonics plays a major role in volcanism, recycling crustal material and helping build continents. Because Mars lacks this process, scientists have often assumed that its crust formed in a much simpler way.