An international team has reached a conclusion that there is a hot spring deposit on mars. Their conclusion is based on the recent finding by Spirit rover. Recent digging by Spirit rover revealed a trench looking bright white which is sulfate mineral, says the expert. According to the researchers, trench showed a clear silica spectrum, in fact, the white soil was more than 90 per cent silica. That's a record high for silica on Mars, says the expert. Steven Ruff, the co-author of the theory, says, "Making such pure silica requires a lot of water. On Earth, the only way to have this kind of silica enrichment is by hot water reacting with rocks." 

Jack Farmer, professor of astrobiology in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration says that on earth hydrothermal deposits team with life and the associated silica deposits typically contain fossil remains of microbes. He further opines that earth’s terrestrial experience shows that microbes can easily be entrapped and preserved in the deposits. “Silica is an excellent medium for capturing and preserving traces of microbial life,” he added further