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Constraints on Thermal History of Mars From Depth of Pore Closure Below InSight
Author(s) -
Gyalay Szilárd,
Nimmo Francis,
Plesa AnaCatalina,
Wieczorek Mark
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl088653
Subject(s) - mars exploration program , geology , porosity , discontinuity (linguistics) , thermal , closure (psychology) , geophysics , heat flux , astrobiology , mechanics , heat transfer , geotechnical engineering , thermodynamics , physics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , economics , market economy
Planetary crusts undergo viscous closure of pores at depth; if the thickness of this porous layer can be measured, constraints on crustal thermal evolution can be derived. We apply a pore closure model developed for the Moon to Mars and take into account the geological processes that may alter the depth of this transition region. If the 8–11 km deep discontinuity in seismic wave speed detected by the InSight lander marks the base of the porous layer, the heat flux at the time the porosity was created must have exceed 60 mW m −2 , probably indicating a time prior to 4 Ga.