Marsquake reveals red planet has large molten core and thin crust, says NASA

A Mars quake-measuring instrument is unveiling the red planet's subsurface for the first time, revealing an unexpectedly thin crust and a boiling molten core underneath the icy surface. Scientists announced this week in a series of studies that the Martian crust is within the thickness range of Earth's crust. Between the crust and the core, the Martian mantle is about half as thick as Earth's. The Martian core is also larger than scientists expected while being smaller than the core of our own.

The Martian core is molten, according to these latest findings. However, multinational study teams believe that additional work is needed to determine whether Mars has a solid inner core like Earth's, surrounded by a molten outer core. Scientists suggested Friday that stronger marsquakes could aid in the identification of any numerous core layers.

InSight lander arrived on Mars in 2018

Data from a French seismometer on NASA's InSight stationary lander, which arrived on Mars in 2018, was used to come up with the conclusions. The domed seismometer has recorded 733 marsquakes so far, but the 35 with magnitudes of 3.0 to 4.0 were the focus of these investigations.

Even the largest marsquakes, according to Mark Panning of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are so feeble that they would scarcely be noticed on Earth. He's hoping for "the big one," which would make data processing and defining the Martian interior easier.

Mars' crust has a depth of 20 to 37 kilometres

According to current estimations, Mars' crust might reach depths of 20 to 37 kilometres; the mantle could extend over 1,600 kilometres, and the relatively light core could have a radius of 1,830 kilometres. The Earth's crust, on the other hand, varies in depth from a few kilometres beneath the oceans to more than 70 kilometres beneath the Himalayas. The Earth is nearly twice the size of Mars.

Mark Panning said, “by going from cartoon understanding of what the inside of Mars looks like, putting real numbers on it, we are able to really expand the family tree of understanding how our solar system’s rocky planet formed."

InSight has been beset with a power shortage in recent months, despite having its mission extended for another two years. Just as Mars was approaching the farthest point in its orbit around the sun, dust-covered its solar panels.

(Inputs from AP News)

Image- @NASA/Twitter