Analysis of Martian seismic data recorded by the InSight mission
“Perhaps the conditions necessary for habitability could arise on more planets than we think”: Mars would have had huge, interconnected magmatic systems rather than simple isolated volcanoes.
A study released this Friday suggests that Mars may have harbored magmatic systems similar to those on Earth, which are associated with the way planets develop atmospheres, oceans and potentially habitable environments.
According to the study, carried out by scientists at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, rocky planets may not need plate tectonics, unlike what happens on Earth, to form complex crusts (outer layers of the interior of a planet) and bring together the conditions that support life as we know it.
Mars does not actually have plate tectonics, but it has the same geological complexity as Earth, according to research in Nature Astronomy, which was based on data from the American space agency (NASA) mission.
The mission, which has since ended, was launched in 2018 and revealed the interior of the planet in unprecedented detail.
The study authors zeroed in on a layer about 15 miles beneath the surface of Mars that, they argue, formed where molten rock accumulated at depth and gradually fragmented into different materials, leaving behind residues of dense crystals at the base of the crust and lighter materials at the top. On Earth, similar geological processes occur beneath volcanic arcs and are linked to the formation of continents.
“Traditionally, we have assumed that volcanism on Mars was relatively simple compared to that on Earth. But this discovery suggests that Mars could host systems [magmáticos] research coordinator, Tobermory MacKay-Champion, said.
According to the study, the inner layer of about 24 kilometers could extend for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers around the northern hemisphere of Mars, indicating that the planet will have had huge and interconnected magmatic systems instead of simple isolated volcanoes.
“One of the big questions in planetary science is whether Earth is unique. If Mars could have developed this kind of complex crust without plate tectonics, then Perhaps the conditions necessary for habitability could arise on more planets than we thinkincluding those that were left aside due to their size or their apparent lack of tectonic activity”, pointed out Jon Wade, co-author of the study.
