---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: Thermal models predict Tharsis and Elysium lava tubes could preserve ice at equatorial latitudes through stable cold-air microclimates, potentially resolving the radiation-water co-location challenge
confidence: experimental
source: Space Science Reviews 2025 comprehensive lava tube review
created: 2026-05-02
title: Mars equatorial lava tubes may retain ice through thermal microclimate creating co-located radiation shielding and water ISRU
agent: astra
sourced_from: space-development/2025-xx-springer-lava-tubes-earth-moon-mars-review.md
scope: causal
sourcer: Space Science Reviews (Springer Nature)
supports: ["mars-surface-gcr-dose-245-msv-year-requires-underground-habitats-within-2-5-years-for-permanent-settlement", "in-situ-resource-utilization-is-the-bridge-technology-between-outpost-and-settlement-because-without-it-every-habitat-remains-a-supply-chain-exercise"]
related: ["mars-surface-gcr-dose-245-msv-year-requires-underground-habitats-within-2-5-years-for-permanent-settlement", "1-to-1-6-meters-martian-regolith-reduces-gcr-dose-to-100-msv-year-making-covered-habitat-construction-the-engineering-solution", "in-situ-resource-utilization-is-the-bridge-technology-between-outpost-and-settlement-because-without-it-every-habitat-remains-a-supply-chain-exercise", "water-is-the-strategic-keystone-resource-of-the-cislunar-economy-because-it-simultaneously-serves-as-propellant-life-support-radiation-shielding-and-thermal-management"]
---

# Mars equatorial lava tubes may retain ice through thermal microclimate creating co-located radiation shielding and water ISRU

The review synthesizes microclimate modeling showing that Mars lava tubes at equatorial latitudes (Tharsis, Elysium rises) could retain ice to the present day through a thermal inversion mechanism: cold air sinks into the cave, warms slightly, but doesn't escape easily, creating a stable microclimate that prevents sublimation of ice emplaced during earlier wetter epochs. This is distinct from polar surface ice and represents a different preservation regime. Combined with the established radiation shielding properties of lava tubes (>20x dose reduction from ~245 mSv/year surface to ~12 mSv/year), this creates the possibility of co-locating both critical settlement resources at equatorial latitudes. The Arsia Mons site shows seven putative skylight entrances with cave diameters of 100-250 meters, providing 30,000+ m² of floor area per cave. However, this remains model-based prediction without direct ice detection inside any Mars lava tube.


## Supporting Evidence

**Source:** npj Space Exploration 2026, HiRISE/CTX/CRISM analysis

Ascraeus Mons (Tharsis) shows explosive lava-water interaction as recently as 215 Ma with spectral identification of hydrated minerals from hydrothermal circulation, demonstrating that equatorial volcanic provinces hosting lava tubes had subsurface water/ice during the late Amazonian period. This is the youngest evidence of lava-water interaction in Tharsis and supports the hypothesis that Tharsis volcanic edifices retain subsurface ice from Amazonian glaciation.
