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The Thermal State and Interior Structure of Mars
Author(s) -
Plesa A.C.,
Padovan S.,
Tosi N.,
Breuer D.,
Grott M.,
Wieczorek M. A.,
Spohn T.,
Smrekar S. E.,
Banerdt W. B.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2018gl080728
Subject(s) - mars exploration program , geology , mantle (geology) , geophysics , thermal , rheology , crust , planet , thermal state , geothermal gradient , astrobiology , physics , thermodynamics , astrophysics
Abstract The present‐day thermal state, interior structure, composition, and rheology of Mars can be constrained by comparing the results of thermal history calculations with geophysical, petrological, and geological observations. Using the largest‐to‐date set of 3‐D thermal evolution models, we find that a limited set of models can satisfy all available constraints simultaneously. These models require a core radius strictly larger than 1,800 km, a crust with an average thickness between 48.8 and 87.1 km containing more than half of the planet's bulk abundance of heat producing elements, and a dry mantle rheology. A strong pressure dependence of the viscosity leads to the formation of prominent mantle plumes producing melt underneath Tharsis up to the present time. Heat flow and core size estimates derived from the InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission will increase the set of constraining data and help to confine the range of admissible models.