While looking at this photo taken by ESA's Mars Express orbiter I discovered something odd...green plant life. Areas of this photo have greenish tints which could only indicate that there is some kind of vegetation growing in these areas.
Another clue that makes me say this is plant life is that ESA states this about the photo: "The dark deposits at the bottom of the Ius Chasma are possibly related to water and wind erosion."
In the statement above, the they said "dark deposits" they mean dark green deposits.
So if water was once there causing this erosion, then it is possible some water may still remain in hidden areas.
ESA also states that the source of the water may still be there: "'Sapping' is erosion by water that emerges from the ground as a spring or seeps from between layers of rock in a wall of a cliff, crater or other type of depression. The channel forms from water and debris running down the slope from the seepage area. This is known from similar features on Earth, but on Mars it is thought that most of the water had probably either evaporated or frozen by the time it reached the bottom of the slope."
Note: I only adjusted the exposure (amount of light) slightly to see more of the color, but the green is still visible with zero adjustments.
Source photo: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars Express/SEM6TZ57ESD 1.html
Scott C. Waring wrote "UFO Sightings of 2006-2009" and "Dragons of Asgard"
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