Key points
- NASA’s InSight mission data reveal that Mars possesses a solid inner core surrounded by a liquid outer core.
- This structure is similar to Earth’s, potentially explaining Mars’ past magnetic field and thicker atmosphere.
- The findings, published in Nature, shed light on Mars’ evolution from a potentially habitable planet to its current state.
- The presence of a solid inner core suggests that crystallization and solidification occurred as Mars cooled.
New research based on data from NASA’s InSight mission has unveiled a surprising similarity between the interior structures of Mars and Earth. Scientists have confirmed the presence of a solid inner core within Mars, encased by a liquid outer core.
This discovery, published in the journal Nature, resolves a long-standing mystery surrounding the red planet’s evolution and its potential for past habitability. The Martian core’s structure closely mirrors Earth’s, implying a potentially similar mechanism for generating a magnetic field.
Billions of years ago, Mars may have possessed a significantly thicker atmosphere, capable of supporting liquid water on its surface. This atmosphere may have been shielded by a protective magnetic field, generated by the movement of molten material within its core, much like Earth’s magnetic field.
However, Mars currently lacks such a field, leading to speculation about the loss of its atmosphere and the transformation into the cold, desert we observe today. The existence of a solid inner core, however, suggests that a magnetic field was, indeed, generated in the past through a dynamo effect similar to Earth’s.
The InSight lander, equipped with sensitive seismometers, provided crucial data for this discovery. Initial analyses of seismic waves traversing Mars’ interior had indicated a fully liquid core.
However, a more refined analysis using advanced techniques, by Huixing Bi and colleagues, uncovered evidence of a solid inner core with a radius of approximately 610 kilometers. This solid inner core is vital to understanding the potential past dynamo effect, as the interplay of heat and movement between the solid inner core, liquid outer core, and mantle is believed to be crucial in generating magnetic fields.
The finding is not only significant for our comprehension of Mars’ geological history but also enhances our understanding of planetary evolution in general. The size and composition of a planet’s core play a crucial role in its ability to sustain a magnetic field and maintain atmospheric conditions that are conducive to liquid water.
This discovery opens up further avenues of research to explore the relationship between planetary size, core structure, and the potential for habitability.
