Tag Archives: mantle dynamics

Mantle plumes still active under Tharsis, Elysium?

[Editor’s note: From a paper by A.-C. Plesa and eight co-authors recently published in Geophysical Research Letters.] The thermal state and interior structure of Mars We constrain the thermal state and interior structure of Mars by combining a large number … Continue reading

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Crustal dichotomy: First a giant impact, then a superplume at the antipode

The result of collaboration between researchers at UC Berkeley, USA and the Institute of Earth Sciences, Taiwan, suggests a two-stage process to explain the martian crustal dichotomy. The dichotomy is a 5-km elevation difference between the northern and southern hemispheres … Continue reading

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Mars’ mantle more Earth-like than Moon-like

Mars’ mantle may be more complicated than previously thought. In a new study published [February 24] in the Nature-affiliated journal Scientific Reports, researchers at Louisiana State University document geochemical changes over time in the lava flows of Elysium, a major … Continue reading

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Mars mantle models pave way for InSight lander

When NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander touches down on Mars in November 2018, it will become the planet’s most advanced geophysical monitoring station. From its landing site on the plains of Elysium Planitia, … Continue reading

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Did big impacts turn off Mars’ dynamo?

Several giant impact basins on Mars have ages that suggest they formed at about the same time that the planet’s global magnetic field disappeared. Is it coincidence or is there a connection? While not claiming a direct causal connection, geophysicists … Continue reading

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