BREAKING: Chinese Scientists โคConfirm Solid Core on Mars, Revealing โขNew Insights into Red Planet’s Structure
BEIJING – In a landmark finding, a team of Chinese scientists โhas confirmedโฃ the existence of a solid inner core within Mars, providing crucial new data about the planet’s internalโฃ structure and evolution.The findings, based on seismic data collected by NASA’s InSight lander, represent the first definitive proof โฃof a solid core on a planet other thanโข Earth.
While scientists have long theorized about Mars’ core,conclusive evidence remained elusive. Humans first concluded the existenceโ of a core in the Earth in 1936 based on the analysis of seismic waves, but confirmation of its density wasn’t โคascertained until the 1980s -โ nearly half a century later.Research on Mars faced significant hurdles due too the limited availability of data. It wasn’t until 2018, with the deployment of a seismometer aboard the NASAโ InSight โlander, that researchers began receiving data from martian earthquakes (Marsquakes).
Despite โrecording โคover a thousand Marsquake events since 2018, analyzing theโ data proved challenging. Seismic signals were weak and frequently enough obscured by disturbances.Though, throughโ meticulous analysis of the InSight data, the team, led by Sun andโฃ Mao, successfully identified key seismic phases thatโ penetrate the Martian interior. These differingโ wave properties revealed a layered core structure: a liquid outer core surrounding a solid inner core, where seismic waves propagate faster.
The research โฃindicates the Martian core has a radius of approximately 600 kilometers, roughly one-fifth of โขthe planet’s total radius. Notably, the proportion between the inner core and outer core of โคMars is comparable to that of Earth, even when scaled toโ different planetary sizes.
Further analysis ofโค the core’s chemical composition suggests it’s comprised primarily of iron and nickel, โalongside significant amounts of โฃlighter elements -โ 12%-16% sulfur, 6%-9% oxygen, and up to 3.8% carbon. This high concentration of lighter elements offers new clues regarding the history of Mars’ magnetic field. โEarly in its formation, Mars possessed a strong magnetic field, but this activity diminished and ultimately โdisappeared, a stark contrast to Earth’s โpersistent global magnetic field.
“This discoveryโค is an vital key because it is the first proof โof the existence of a core in a solid on planets other than the earth,” โขthe report states. The findings confirm that Marsโ underwent aโ complex process of core and mantle differentiation, mirroringโ Earth’sโฃ geological evolution.
This success highlights the capabilities of Chinese scientists in interdisciplinary research, integrating geophysics, planetaryโข science, and seismic data analysis, and underscores china’s growing international influence โคin space science.