AGUS MUGHNI | Sunday, 09/21/2025 11:46 WIB
Illustration – Mars’s core structure (Photo: Earth)
JAKARTA, Jurnas.com – Planet Mars has been known as a cold and barren world, but new findings reveal that he has a big secret in it. For the first time, scientists managed to prove that Mars has a core in a solid, similar to the core of the earth.
This discovery came from the analysis of Mars earthquake data collected by NASA’s insight mission. This vehicle recorded a subsurface vibration for four years, before finally stopping operating due to being covered in dust.
Through this data, researchers detect rare seismic waves that can only occur if there is a solid nucleus at the center of the planet. This wave shows that the deepest part of Mars has a much more complex structure than previously thought.
The team led by Huixing BI from the University of Science and Technology of China found that this solid core covered about 18 percent of the Mars radius. This number makes the structure in Mars more comparable to the earth, which also has a solid core at its center.
The key to this finding is two types of seismic waves, PKIKP and PKKP, which propagate differently depending on the condition of the material it is through. The PKIKP wave bounces from the deep core limit, while PKKP crosses the outer core and shows a change in speed that is only possible if there is a solid core below.
These waves are direct evidence that the deepest part of Mars is not just a metal liquid, but has experienced crystallization like the earth. This provides important information about Mars’s thermal and chemical evolution for billions of years.
The analysis also shows that the core in Mars does not consist of pure iron, but is mixed with mild elements such as oxygen. The separation of this element occurs during the cooling process, creating a density contrast between the solid and liquid nucleus which triggers the movement of the surrounding fluid.
This is closely related to the history of the Mars Magnetic field which has now disappeared. In the past, this planet had a global magnetic field that protects its surface, but the internal dynamo that supports it slowly goes out over time.
Although the existence of a solid core does not guarantee that Mars has an active dynamo at this time, this finding helps explain why the process can stop. Slow core movements or less strong crystallization can be a major factor.
Before this, scientists can only ensure that Mars has a liquid outer core based on the reflection of the waves from the boundary between the coat and the nucleus. But the deepest part of the planet remains a puzzle, until these new waves give the answer.
The analysis technique used relies on the separation of fine signals from seismic waves embedded between other vibrations. The researchers used the data pile method from various events to clarify this very weak but significant signal.
The difference in the speed of the wave is quite large between the outer core and the inside also gives instructions on the composition of the material in it. This supports the allegation that Mars underwent an active crystallization process for a very long time.
A similar phenomenon was also found on earth and the moon, through the same waves. The success of detecting PKIKP waves on Mars from one observation point proves that the structure of the planet can be read in detail without the need for a large network.
With this new understanding, the opportunity to map the interior of other planets is increasingly open. The future of exploration can involve more seismic stations and magnetic instruments to observe the planet’s core dynamics in real-time.
This research has been published in the journal Nature. Source:
Earth
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