A seismometer placed on Mars by NASA’s InSight lander has recorded two of the largest seismic events on the Red Planet to date: earthquakes of magnitude 4.2 and magnitude 4.1
London: A seismometer placed on Mars by NASA’s InSight spacecraft has registered two of the largest seismic events on the Red Planet to date: earthquakes of magnitude 4.2 and magnitude 4.1.
The pair is the first recorded event to occur on the far side of the planet from the lander and is five times stronger than the previous largest recorded event.
Seismic data from the events could help researchers learn more about the inner layers of Mars, especially the core-mantle boundary, according to researchers from InSight’s Marsquake Service (MQS) on The Seismic Record.
A team led by Anna Horleston of the University of Bristol was able to identify reflected PP and SS waves from the 4.2 magnitude event, called S0976a, and locate it in Valles Marineris, a massive canyon network that is one of the largest. the distinctive geological features of Mars and one of the largest graben systems in the solar system.
S1000a – the 4.1 magnitude event, registered 24 days later – is characterized by reflected PP and SS waves, as well as Pdiff waves, low-amplitude waves that have crossed the core-mantle boundary.
This is the first time Pdiff waves have been spotted by the InSight mission.
Researchers have not been able to definitively determine the location of S1000a, but like S0976a, it originated on the far side of Mars. The seismic energy of S1000a also differs in that it is the longest recorded on Mars, lasting 94 minutes.
Both earthquakes occurred in the shadow core area, an area where P and S waves cannot travel directly to the InSight seismometer because they are stopped or bent by the core. PP and SS waves do not follow a direct path, but rather are reflected at least once on the surface before traveling to the seismometer.
The two earthquakes differ in some important ways. S0976a is characterized only by low-frequency energy, similar to many of the earthquakes identified so far on the planet, while S1000a has a very wide frequency spectrum.
S0976a probably has a much deeper origin than S1000a, Horleston said.
Compared to the rest of the seismic activity discovered by InSight, the two new earthquakes from the far side are real deviations, the researchers said.
“They are not only the largest and most distant events with a significant difference, but the S1000a also has a spectrum and duration, unlike any other event observed before. They are truly remarkable events in the Martian seismic catalog, “said Horleston.
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