Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wright, Vashan; Morzfeld, Matthias; Manga, Michael
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California San Diego; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of California System; University of California Berkeley
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13441
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409983121
• 发表日期: 2024-08-27
• 关键词: density; mars; propagation; gravity; ocean

摘要

Large volumes of liquid water transiently existed on the surface of Mars more than 3 billion years ago. Much of this water is hypothesized to have been sequestered in the subsurface or lost to space. We use rock physics models and Bayesian inversion to identify combinations of lithology, liquid water saturation, porosity, and pore shape consistent with the constrained mid-crust (similar to 11.5 to 20 km depths) seismic velocities and gravity near the InSight lander. A mid-crust composed of fractured igneous rocks saturated with liquid water best explains the existing data. Our results have implications for understanding Mars' water cycle, determining the fates of past surface water, searching for past or extant life, and assessing in situ resource utilization for future missions.