Lava tubes present on Mars, Earth, & Moon can be potential safe habitats

There is evidence that the Earth, Mars, and the Moon have lava tubes. The lava tubes were inferred by studying the linear cavities and sinuous collapse chains where the galleries cracked. However, lately, scientists studied the subsurface cavities that lava created underground on Mars and the moon and they revealed that they are so big that entire cities could fit inside Moon’s lava tubes.

What is a lava tube?

Formed by an intense flow of molten rock, a lava tube is a tunnel under a planet or a celestial body’s surface. It is formed during a volcanic explosion. They can be spotted on the Earth most easily when they collapse because of which they form long furrows in the dirt.

Researchers believe that there is a possibility that lava tubes might have existed on Mars and the moon since the 1960s. However, in recent years, home images from mars and Moon have shown that the formations of lava tubes are very common. In a new paper published on July 20 in the journal Earth Science Reviews, scientists argue that it is time to explore the lava tubes earnestly.

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The lava tubes present on Earth are gigantic and might offer safer habitat than the ones present on surfaces of Mars and moon. The co-author of the study of lava tubes on earth, Riccardo Pozzobon, who is a geoscientist at the University of Padova, Italy said in a statement, "The largest lava tubes on Earth are maximum [about] 40 meters [130 feet] of width and height. So like a very large motorway tunnel". Researchers believe that these lava tubes are big enough for people to fit inside.

(Image credit: University of Bologna)

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However, on Mars, the collapsed lava tubes tend to be 80 times bigger than that on the Earth. It is estimated to be of diameters of 130 to 1300 feet. Pozzobon, a geoscientist at the University of Padova, told LiveScience that it is also believed that lava tubes present on the moon could fit in a small city within its walls. Reportedly, Lava tubes appeal as potential habitats because they can protect from meteors that do not burn as easily in the thin atmospheres of Mars and moon. Lava Tubes are likely to contain useful chemicals like water ice and volatile chemicals, which can be used to make fuel. 

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Promo image: ESA.int website