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If life emerged on Mars during the Noachian, wet glaciovolcanic environments may have provided protected niches for habitability after Mars lost much of its surface water and atmosphere. To understand the nature of the habitability of these putative refugia, we investigated an active hydrothermal field at the summit of the partially-subglacial Kverkfjöll volcano in Iceland, which features a shallow steam-heated meltwater lake, hot springs, and thermal pools. We used a combined geochemical and lipid biomarker approach to describe the distribution and physiological status of the indigenous microbial community and the hydrothermal fluids that support them.