Premium
The influence of crustal radioactivity on mantle convection and lithospheric thickness on Mars
Author(s) -
Kiefer Walter S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: planets
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9100
pISSN - 2169-9097
DOI - 10.1002/2016je005202
Subject(s) - mars exploration program , martian , crust , geology , mantle (geology) , geophysics , lithosphere , convection , martian surface , heat flux , mantle convection , earth's internal heat budget , astrobiology , heat transfer , mechanics , tectonics , seismology , physics
Orbital measurements of gravity and topography demonstrate that the crust of Mars varies in thickness by about 100 km across the surface. As a result, the heat flux due to crustal radioactivity varies laterally by nearly 15 mW m −2 . In an important new paper, Plesa et al. (2016, doi: 10.1002/2016JE005126 ) have assessed how these variations in crustal thickness and heat flow affect the spatial pattern of convection in the Martian mantle. Their results have important implications for the interpretation of the Martian heat flux that will be measured by the upcoming InSight mission to Mars.