New data is challenging what scientists previously knew about one of the youngest geological features on the Red Planet.

That feature is Athabasca Valles, a system of valleys carved into volcanic plains on Mars. The Athabasca Valles system offers key insights into the history of water on the Red Planet, and its volcanic features such as crater-like rootless cones hint at brief episodes in Mars' past when water flowed on its surface. These small, conical mounds formed when lava interacted explosively with water or ice, marking the presence of underground ice near the surface at the time of eruption.

The new findings raise questions about Mars' history, suggesting either that ancient floods were far more colossal than previously believed, or that the planet's climate once supported more extensive and persistent water than scientists imagined.