Glacial isostatic adjustment reveals Mars's interior viscosity structure.

ABSTRACT: Investigating glacial isostatic adjustment has been the standard method to decipher Earth's interior viscosity structure^1,2, but such an approach has been rarely applied to other planets because of a lack of observational data^3,4. The north polar cap of Mars is the only millions-of-years-old surface feature that can induce measurable surface deformation on this planet, thereby holding clues to its present-day internal viscosity structure^5,6. Here we investigate the emplacement of this ice cap by combining thermal evolution models⁷, viscoelastic deformation calculations⁸ and radar observations⁶. We show that downward motion of the northern regions is ongoing and can be constrained by analyses of the time-variable gravity fiel

SUBMITTER: Broquet A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11882459 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature