Researchers may have ideas about how Mars formed

A Marslander may have traced clues about the formation of the red planet billions of years ago. According to Science Mag, researchers studying NASA’s InSight spacecraft, which landed on the surface of Mars two years ago, were finally able to locate some tips of boundaries in the rock, ten and hundreds of kilometers below the earth’s crust, which they say are surprisingly thin. is. The team also found that the mantle is at a cooler temperature than expected despite the planet’s molten iron core.

These new discoveries about the inside of Mars led the team to believe that the planet had once cooled itself by a kind of plate tectonics, according to a pattern of ‘upward mantle rock and crust’ that caused Mars to shed heat efficiently. A scientist, who was not involved in the mission, said that these findings could provide evidence of a much more dynamic crust formation in the early days of Mars.Since NASA’s InSight spacecraft landed on Mars, the seismometers have been running continuously to measure and record details of marsquakes to gain more information about the planet’s internal composition and structure. Unfortunately, there was no earthquake greater than 4.5, meaning that the seismic waves had not yet moved as deep below the surface as scientists would have liked.

However, two moderate tremors, with strengths of 3.7 and 3.3, are described as ‘treasure chest’ for the mission. Science Mag notes that the waves of these earthquakes travel to NASA’s lander, which recorded travel times. According to Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun, a seismologist at the University of Cologne, the deviations indicated the ‘thickness of the crust’ and suggested ‘different layers in it’.

InSight’s data revealed that Mars may consist of two or three layers, with the Earth’s crust appearing thinner than Earth’s continental crust. Researchers have calculated that the outer shell of the red planet was only 20 or 37 kilometers thick, with a shallow layer below indicating a cooler mantle and a liquid core of about 1800 kilometers (more than half the planet’s total diameter) enveloped.

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The InSight team, led by Bruce Banerdt, chief investigator and geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will continue its geological study of the red planet in the coming months in an effort to find more accurate measurements of event detection and a further to get a clearer picture. of Mars’ multilayered interior.

For other exciting discoveries and developments in space, read how NASA’s Mars rover transported 10.9 million names to the red planet for a campaign, find out about the astronomers who have discovered a new method of turning potentially habitable planets on to trace and discover all the details about the mini-moon that was found earlier this year orbiting the earth.

Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can reach her Twitter.

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