including Meridiani, Arabia and Elysium has been reported for decades. The current results confirm previous readings.

The source is apparently still mysterious.

Confirmation of methane and ammonia in the atmosphere together with the release of water vapor into the atmosphere from low latitude locations is highly evocative.

Life? Why not? Volcanics? Less likely in my view -- unless some evidence can be produced that active volcanism is still underway on Mars. So far there has been none, at least none that has been widely disseminated (I know we have sometimes discussed potential volcanic evidence on this board and elsewhere, and even though we may have seen this evidence, confirmation would be nice.)

Of course 'volcanics' on Mars need not necessarily involve molten lava, pyroclastic flows and so on. Because the surface is so cold so much of the time, something like volcanic behavior might occur at little more than room temperature -- and there is lots of evidence of cool/cold flows, at least in the recent past, and maybe right now.

If we're dealing with subsurface water and sulfuric acid, we wouldn't even need substantial internal heat (though I don't doubt it's there) -- if the two fluids combine below the surface, heat will spontaneously be generated.

I wonder if the orbiting instruments can distinguish the hydrogen signatures of sulfuric acid from those of water.

Cheers, BRFelix