The Earthquakes on Mars have been a frequent topic in the record of surface activities, which is constantly made by NASA, ESA and the rest of space agencies. Knowing the red planet is essential for understanding the formation of the Solar System, until now the only place where life as we know it develops.
Astronomy and science in general pay close attention to Mars, because there is a possibility that in the future there will be life in this place. It is also an option to discover that there was life in the past.
In addition, Mars is a real option for a manned mission that would put a person on another planet for the first time in history. While all this is happening around our neighbor in the Solar System, scientists from NASA and ESA recorded the strongest earthquake since rovers have circulated on this surface.
They managed to record the phenomenon that highlights it as a rocky world, like ours, and reveals data about its crust.
The strong earthquake registered during the last year of the NASA’s Mars InSight mission has allowed researchers at ETH Zurich to obtain invaluable information about the crust of the red planet.
The results revealed that, on average, the crust of Mars is considerably thicker than that of our own planet and that of the Moon. In addition, the main source of heat on Mars was found to be radioactive in nature.
The earthquake in question was recorded in May 2022, and its seismic waves traveled the Martian surface up to three times.
The experts then relied on these surface waves to determine the global average thickness of the Martian crust. They also found that the density of the crust is similar in the northern and southern hemispheres, although its thickness differs significantly.
The seismic velocities provided crucial information about the internal structure of Mars at different depths. Previous observations of seismic waves generated by meteorite impacts have enabled regional discoveries, but this new finding represents the first time that a global view of the seismic structure of Mars has been obtained.