Mars should not have a solid inner core but it does, China-US study finds
Marsquake data gleaned by Chinese and US researchers could change long-held beliefs about red planet
By analysing seismic waves from marsquakes recorded by Nasa’s now-retired InSight lander, the team discovered a solid core about 600km (373 miles) in radius, or roughly 18 per cent of Mars’ radius, a similar proportion to Earth’s inner core.
This might also revive the long-debated idea that Earth was not the only planet to have once developed plate tectonics, said Ross Mitchell, a geologist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing, who was not involved in the research.
Inner cores form when the pressure is high enough and the temperature low enough for the liquid metal to “freeze” into a solid, Mitchell explained. Given enough time, any planet or moon will eventually form a solid inner core.
However, most bodies in the solar system have not cooled fast enough to form a solid inner core. “If this result holds, then it’s three of a kind: Earth, the moon and now Mars have inner cores,” he said.