A new map that details gravitational anomalies on Mars has revealed 20 mysteriously dense blobs, including a dog-shaped mass, buried below the planet's north pole   Live Science - September 23, 2024

Dozens of mysteriously dense blobs - including one surprisingly pooch-shaped structure - are lurking beneath an ancient seabed surrounding Mars' north pole, a new "gravity map" of the Red Planet reveals. The first-of-its-kind atlas also confirms a recent finding about Mars' tallest mountain that could help reveal secrets about the planet's volcanic past and present. Researchers have no idea where they came from.

In a new study, researchers created the first true global density map of Mars by combining data about the planet's crust from NASA's InSight lander with records of fluctuations in the orbits of satellites, such as NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Mars Express, as they were pulled out of place by hidden gravitational anomalies.

The standout features in the new map were 20 underground blobs in the Borealis Basin in Mars' northern hemisphere, which was an ancient seabed more than 3 billion years ago. These blobs come in a range of shapes and sizes, including one that "resembles the shape of a dog," and have densities between 300 and 400 kilograms per cubic meter higher than the surrounding ground, the researchers wrote in a statement.

It is currently unclear what these blobs are, why they are so dense or how they were created.