Study says seismic waves reveal what’s in Mars’ core

Last Monday (24), the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a study used Research InSight (Inner Exploration Using Seismic Surveys, Geodesy, and Heat Transfer) Anthem.

In the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, scientists describe how they discovered the composition of the planet’s center: an alloy of liquid iron and large amounts of sulfur.

The scientists analyzed hundreds of earthquakes recorded on Mars over the course of four years and obtained data that creates a kind of acoustic x-ray as seismic waves propagate and reflect certain materials. From this analysis, researchers learned more about activity inside Mars and the materials that make up the planet’s core.

Unlike the Earth’s core, which consists of different layers of liquid and solid, The center of Mars consists only of an iron alloy liquid. Additionally, about one-fifth of the planet’s weight is made up of large amounts of sulfur and smaller amounts of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen — suggesting that Mars’ core is less dense than Earth’s.

“In 1906, scientists first discovered the Earth’s core by observing how seismic waves from earthquakes are affected as they pass through it. More than a century later, we are applying our knowledge of seismic waves to Mars. “With InSight, we finally figured out what is at the center of Mars and what makes Mars so similar to Earth but different from Earth.”

seismic waves on Mars

The probe was able to analyze seismic events occurring in different parts of Mars and took a full ‘X-ray’ of the center of the red planet. That’s why the scientists suggest the study could help other researchers trying to reconstruct Mars’ history to understand how it turned into the red planet we know today – some scientists believe Mars may have been habitable at some point.

We look for life outside the solar system based on information from Earth, so we’re always looking for data similar to ours. Therefore, since the planets differ among themselves, discoveries of the distinctive features of Mars may be useful for improving methods of searching for life outside the solar system.

“It’s kind of a puzzle. For example, Mars has tiny traces of hydrogen in its core. That means there must be certain conditions that allow hydrogen to be there, and we need to understand these conditions to understand how Mars evolved. “For the planet today,” he says. Lekic.