US student discovers strange-looking lava coils on Mars

US student discovers strange-looking lava coils on Mars

[link to ca.news.yahoo.com]

A researcher has spotted lava flows shaped like coils of rope near the equator of Mars, the first time such geologic features have been discovered beyond Earth.
The twisty volcanic patterns can be found on Hawaii's Big Island and on the Pacific seafloor. While evidence for lava flows is present in many places on Mars, none are shaped like this latest find.
"I was quite surprised and puzzled when I first saw the coils," Andrew Ryan, a graduate student at Arizona State University, said in an email. He reports the discovery in Friday's issue of the journal Science.