A groundbreaking study using data from NASA’s InSight lander suggests that Mars may have a solid inner core, much like Earth. The findings, while not yet peer-reviewed, challenge the prevailing belief that Mars has a fully liquid core, opening new doors for understanding the planet’s internal structure and its geophysical history.
NASA’s InSight mission, launched in 2018, was the first to focus on exploring the interior of Mars. By analyzing seismic waves generated by marsquakes, scientists can map the planet’s subsurface layers, including the crust, mantle, and core. In addition to revealing the frequency of meteorite impacts on Mars, InSight’s data has been pivotal in piecing together the planet’s geological history.
Previous analyses indicated that Mars has a liquid core, supported by evidence such as the absence of a global magnetic field and cosmochemical data suggesting a high concentration of light elements in the core. However, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Texas at Austin challenges this notion.
Evidence for a Solid Inner Core
Using an innovative approach to analyze low-frequency seismic waves, the researchers identified what they believe to be signs of a solid inner core. The method involved generating “vespagrams,” which map the energy of seismic waves. The arrival times of these waves hinted at a faster propagation speed through a solid inner layer, similar to Earth’s solid inner core.
The study estimates Mars’s inner core to make up about 18% of the planet’s radius, closely resembling Earth’s inner core, which constitutes 19% of Earth’s radius. Despite these similarities, the researchers propose that the processes forming Mars’s core differ significantly from Earth’s.
A Different Path to Core Formation
The study outlines two potential scenarios for how Mars’s solid inner core might have formed.
- “Snow Formation” Mechanism: In a cooler Martian interior, solid iron-rich droplets may crystallize at the top of the core and gradually sink toward the center, forming a solid core surrounded by a sulfur-enriched liquid outer core.
- “Bottom-Up Crystallization”: In a core with a higher sulfur content, the solidification process could begin at the bottom, driven by temperature variations within the core.
These findings, if confirmed, could provide new insights into Mars’s evolution and the mechanisms behind its lack of a global magnetic field, a feature that Earth’s dynamic core drives.
While this study offers intriguing evidence, it contradicts previous research suggesting a fully liquid Martian core. Further analysis and additional data will be essential to validate these findings. If Mars does indeed have a solid inner core, it could reshape our understanding of the planet’s geological history and raise new questions about its inability to sustain a global magnetic field.
As scientists continue to explore the Red Planet, studies like this underscore how much there is still to learn about our celestial neighbor.
Join the Conversation!
Have something to share or discuss? Connect with us on Facebook and join like-minded explorers in our Telegram group. For the latest discoveries and insights, make sure to follow us on Google News.
