Thus, we propose that Hydraotes Chaos merits priority consideration in future missions aiming to detect Martian biosignatures. The meltwater, originating from varying thermally affected mudstone depths, could have potentially harbored diverse biosignatures, which could have become concentrated within the lake’s sedimentary residue. Our numerical models suggest that magmatically induced phase segregation within these materials generated enormous water-filled chambers. This deposit’s inferred fine-grained composition, coupled with the presence of coexisting mud volcanoes and diapirs, suggest that its source aquifer existed within abundant subsurface mudstones, water ice, and evaporites, forming part of the region’s extremely ancient (~ 4 Ga) highland stratigraphy. Furthermore, the lake’s residue’s estimated age is ~1.1 Ga (~3.2 Ga post-peak aquifer drainage during the Late Hesperian), enhancing the prospects for organic matter preservation. Unlike the northern lowland counterparts, its sedimentary makeup likely consists of aquifer-expelled materials, offering a potential window into the nature of Mars' subsurface habitability. Here, we show evidence that a lacustrine sedimentary residue within Hydraotes Chaos formed due to regional aquifer upwelling and ponding into an interior basin. These materials are considered to have extensively covered the northern lowlands. ![]() Their extensive collapse triggered megafloods ~3.4 Ga, and the resulting outflow channel excavation generated voluminous sediment eroded from the highlands. While Mars' surface is considered to have become cryogenic ~3.7 Ga, stable subsurface aquifers persisted long after this transition. ![]() The quest for past Martian life hinges on locating surface formations linked to ancient habitability.
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