The core of Mars appears larger than it is because it is enveloped in radioactive magma

Mars meteorite impact data recorded by NASA’s InSight lander in 2021 is now helping to clear up some confusion about the red planet’s interior composition. A couple of studies published today in the journal Nature separately determined that Mars’ iron-rich core is smaller and denser than previous measurements suggested, and is surrounded by molten rock.

The now-defunct InSight lander, which arrived on Mars in November 2018, spent four years recording seismic waves produced by earthquakes so scientists could better understand what’s happening beneath the planet’s surface. But estimates of the Martian core based on InSight’s initial readings of nearby earthquakes didn’t quite add up. At that time, scientists discovered that the core’s radius was between 1,118 and 1,149 miles (much larger than expected) and that it contained a disconcertingly high amount of lighter elements that complemented its heavy liquid iron.

The numbers of those light elements were “on the verge of the impossible,” he said. eth-news/news/2023/10/raetsel-um-kern-des-mars-geloest.html”>Dongyang Huang

from eth Zurich, co-author of one of the studies. “We have been wondering about this result ever since.” Then, a breakthrough came when a meteorite crashed into Mars in September 2021 across the entire planet from where InSight is located, generating seismic waves that, according to eth Zurich doctoral student Cecilia Durán, “allowed us illuminate the core.”

IPGP/ CNES/ No. Initiator

Based on those measurements, the two teams have found that the core of Mars is most likely to have a radius of about 1,013-1,060 miles. This, the eth Zurich team notes, is about half the radius of Mars itself. A smaller core would also be denser, meaning that the previously unexplained abundance of light elements may actually exist in smaller, more reasonable quantities. All of this is surrounded by a layer of molten silicates about 90 miles thick, the teams found, skewing initial estimates. And it is unlike anything found inside the Earth.

According Vedran Lekic from the University of Maryland, co-author of the second document, the shell serves as a kind of “heating blanket” for the core that “concentrates radioactive elements.” Studying it could help scientists discover answers about the formation of Mars and its lack of an active magnetic field.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mars-core-looks-bigger-than-it-is-Because-its-wrapped-in-radioactive-magma-211359695.html?src=rss