Marsquick! Seismic waves from the largest bog ever discovered have revealed a possible meteorite impact in the past – ScienceDaily

The largest earthquake ever detected on Mars has revealed layers in its crust that could indicate a previous collision with a massive object, such as a meteorite. Previous data indicated that a significant effect occurred in the past, and the results provide evidence that may support this hypothesis.

The research, led by UCLA planetary scientists and published in two papers in Geophysical Research Letters, could also indicate that alternating layers of igneous and sedimentary rock lie beneath the surface.

The magnitude 4.7 earthquake occurred in May 2022 and lasted more than four hours, releasing five times more energy than any quake previously recorded. Although the quake was mild by Earth standards, it was powerful enough to send seismic surface waves completely around the circumference of the planet, the first time this phenomenon had been observed on Mars.

The readings were taken from InSight, which landed on Mars in 2018. InSight is the first outer space seismometer to deeply study the “inner space” of Mars: its crust, mantle and core.

“The seismometer aboard the Insight lander recorded thousands of earthquakes, but never one of this magnitude, and it took more than three years after landing to record it,” said corresponding author Carolyn Begin, professor of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. “This earthquake produced different types of waves, including two types of waves trapped near the surface. Only one of these waves had been observed on Mars before, after two impact events, and never during an earthquake.”

Mapping seismic activity, the location and frequency of impacts on Mars, and the interior structure is important for future missions to the Red Planet because it will inform scientists and engineers about where and how to build structures to ensure the safety of future human explorers.

As on Earth, studying how seismic waves travel through rocks can give scientists clues about the temperature and composition of the planet beneath the surface that help in the search for groundwater or magma. It also helps scientists understand the past forces that shaped the planet.

The Beijing group combined measurements of two types of surface waves, called love waves and Rayleigh waves, to infer the speed of underground shear waves, which travel horizontally and move rock perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. This is the first time that love waves have been observed in conjunction with Rayleigh waves on Mars.

Measurements have shown that shear waves move faster in the crust when rocks are rocked between 10 and 25 kilometers underground in a direction roughly parallel to the planet’s surface than if rocks are shaken in a vertical direction.

“This wave velocity information is related to deformations within the Earth’s crust,” Begin said. “Alternating igneous rocks and sedimentary layers, deposited a long time ago, or a very large impact, such as a meteorite, likely explains the seismic wave measurements we observed.”

This data also enabled Jiaqi Li, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher in Beghein’s group, to learn that shear waves move faster in the southern highlands of Mars than in the northern lowlands. The northern hemisphere of Mars has a lower elevation and is covered with more craters than the southern hemisphere. The High Lowland influence has been the dominant theory to explain the origin of this difference.

New data indicate dense accumulations of sedimentary rocks and relatively higher porosity in the lowlands. Large amounts of gas, such as the air trapped in these sedimentary rocks, slow the waves.

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Materials provided by University of California – Los Angeles. Original by Holly Ober. Note: Content can be modified by style and length.

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