Most volcanoes are known for spewing molten rock and hot gas, but Newberry volcano south of Bend has caught the attention of one group of scientists for its caves of ice.

Frigid year-round, the caves could replicate conditions in similar caves found on Mars.

For that reason, scientists believe rugged bacteria inhabiting the Central Oregon ice might teach them something about life that may have existed on Mars.

“We think this same type of bacteria existed in the past on Mars,” said Radu Popa, an associate professor of microbiology at Portland State University.

Bacteria subsist on rock

In the ice caves, researchers found bacteria capable of living without warmth and without much oxygen. And in the absence of organic food, the bacteria feed on olivine. Known as peridot when cut and polished into a gem, olivine is a green volcanic mineral found in the lava tube’s rocks. Popa said the bacteria extract iron from the olivine to create energy. The scientists’ findings appeared in the journal Astrobiology in November.

The green rock is no stranger to the red planet, said Martin Fisk, a marine geography professor at Oregon State University.

‘Sustain microbial life’

“We know from direct examination, as well as satellite imagery, that olivine is in Martian rocks,” Fisk said in a written statement. “And now we know that olivine can sustain microbial life.”

The find is the latest clue showing Mars may have supported life. In 2006, Fisk led an OSU study of a meteorite from Mars that discovered a series of microscopic tunnels similar in size and shape to tracks created by feeding bacteria in rocks on Earth.

Popa said bacteria similar to those found in the lava tubes likely don’t exist now on Mars.

Mars is much colder than Earth, with average temperatures of about minus 80 degrees, according to NASA.

But the planet used to be warmer, and scientists suspect it had ice caves very similar to the lava tube. Under Mars’ surface, caves could hold remnants of DNA from long-dead bacteria.

“I think there is a good chance that they will be found,” Fisk said.