Mars Express has helped to unveil volcanic history of the Red Planet, providing more insight as to what lies underneath our celestial neighbor.

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars’s equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery.

U.S. scientists say the 15-mile-high Olympus Mons volcano on Mars might answer the question of whether that planet ever had, or still has, water. Rice University Assistant Professor Patrick McGovern and Associate Professor Julia Morgan used an algorithm to analyze the volcano's structure.

The Martian volcano Olympus Mons is about three times the height of Mount Everest, but it's the small details that Rice University professors Patrick McGovern and Julia Morgan are looking at in thinking about whether the Red Planet ever had – or still supports – life.

CU-Boulder Study Provides Possible Explanation for Migration of Volcanic Activity on Mars