Geophysical evidence for an enriched molten silicate layer above Mars's core.

ABSTRACT: The detection of deep reflected S waves on Mars inferred a core size of 1,830 ± 40 km (ref. ¹), requiring light-element contents that are incompatible with experimental petrological constraints. This estimate assumes a compositionally homogeneous Martian mantle, at odds with recent measurements of anomalously slow propagating P waves diffracted along the core-mantle boundary². An alternative hypothesis is that Mars's mantle is heterogeneous as a consequence of an early magma ocean that solidified to form a basal layer enriched in iron and heat-producing elements. Such enrichment results in the formation of a molten silicate layer above the core, overlain by a partially molten layer³. Here we show that this structure is compatible with all geophysical data,

SUBMITTER: Samuel H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10600000 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature