Volcanoes may have triggered mega flood on Mars 20,000 years ago

London, June 24 : A fresh look by scientists at the surface images of Mars have led tem to suggest that volcanoes on the Red Planet might have triggered off a mega flood about 20,000 years ago.

According to a report in New Scientist, Mars's ice caps are scarred by huge chasms, but until recently no one knew for sure what happened to their contents.

Now, a team led by Niels Hovius of the University of Cambridge reckons that they have found volcanic craters in exposed rock at one chasm's base and scours that suggest huge flows of water.

The craters are between 20,000 and 10 million years old, suggesting liquid water was present on Mars's surface relatively recently.

"The wet area beneath the ice could have been a temporary haven for life," said Hovius.

According to James Head of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, it is not certain that Mars was volcanic in recent times; many believe that meteorites formed the craters, though this should now be questioned.

ANI