The Red Planet Hides Mysterious Structures Beneath the Surface

Gravity changes on Mars have revealed dense, large-scale structures hidden beneath the sedimentary layers of the lost ocean. A mystery beneath the Red Planet’s coastline is looking for an explanation.

The analysis, which combines models and data from various missions, It also shows that active processes in the Martian mantle could be driving the largest volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons. Results are displayed in EEuropean Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) In Berlin by Bart Root of TU Delft.

Marty It has many hidden structures.Like glacial deposits, the features discovered on the Arctic plains are a mystery because they are covered by a layer of thick, smooth sediments believed to have been deposited on the floor of an ancient sea.

“These dense structures may be of volcanic origin or could be material compressed by ancient impacts. We have identified about twenty features of varying sizes scattered around the area surrounding the northern polar ice cap, one of which resembles a dog-shaped structure,” said Dr Root. “There seems to be no trace of these elements on the surface. However, thanks to the gravity data, we have a tantalizing glimpse into the early history of Mars’ northern hemisphere.”

Gravity map of Mars

Dr. Rot and his colleagues at TU Delft and Utrecht University used small deviations in the satellites’ orbits to study Mars’ gravitational field and find clues about the planet’s internal mass distribution.

These data were fed into models that use new observations from NASA’s InSight mission of the thickness and elasticity of Mars’ crust, as well as the dynamics of the planet’s mantle and deep interior, to create a global map of Mars’ density.

The density map shows that the Arctic features are about 300-400 kg/m3 denser than the surrounding areas. However, the study also revealed new insights into the structures underlying the massive Tharsis Rise volcanic region, which includes the massive Olympus Mons volcano.

Although the volcanoes are very dense, the Tharsis region is much higher than the average Martian surface, and is surrounded by a region of relatively weak gravity. This gravitational anomaly is difficult to explain solely by differences in the Martian crust and upper mantle. The study by Dr. Root and his team suggests that a thin mass about 1,750 kilometers in diameter and 1,100 kilometers deep is giving the entire Tharsis region an upward push. This could be explained by a massive column of lava, which lies deep in the interior of Mars and rises toward the surface.

“NASA’s InSight mission has provided us with fundamental new information about the outer layer of Mars. This means we need to rethink how we understand the support provided by Olympus Mons and its surroundings,” said Dr Root. “It shows that Mars may still have active movements within it, influencing and perhaps creating new volcanic features on the surface.”

Dr. Root is part of a team proposing the Mars Quantum Gravity Mission (MaQuls), which aims to use technology developed for missions like GRAIL and GRACE, on the Moon and Earth respectively, to map the gravitational field of Mars in detail. This would allow us to better understand the structure and secrets of the Red Planet.