1. Constraints on the martian crust away from the InSight landing site.
- Author
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Li, Jiaqi, Beghein, Caroline, McLennan, Scott M, Horleston, Anna C, Charalambous, Constantinos, Huang, Quancheng, Zenhäusern, Géraldine, Bozdağ, Ebru, Pike, WT, Golombek, Matthew, Lekić, Vedran, Lognonné, Philippe, and Bruce Banerdt, W
- Subjects
Extraterrestrial Environment ,Mars ,Geology - Abstract
The most distant marsquake recorded so far by the InSight seismometer occurred at an epicentral distance of 146.3 ± 6.9o, close to the western end of Valles Marineris. On the seismogram of this event, we have identified seismic wave precursors, i.e., underside reflections off a subsurface discontinuity halfway between the marsquake and the instrument, which directly constrain the crustal structure away (about 4100-4500 km) from the InSight landing site. Here we show that the Martian crust at the bounce point between the lander and the marsquake is characterized by a discontinuity at about 20 km depth, similar to the second (deeper) intra-crustal interface seen beneath the InSight landing site. We propose that this 20-km interface, first discovered beneath the lander, is not a local geological structure but likely a regional or global feature, and is consistent with a transition from porous to non-porous Martian crustal materials.
- Published
- 2022