Mars's Hidden Magma Seas Could Have Built a Habitable Past
TL;DR
NASA's InSight seismic data reveal a deep crustal boundary on Mars formed by vast magma pools, suggesting the crust differentiated into mafic and ultramafic layers and implying interconnected, long-lived magmatic systems beneath the planet. This transcrustal magmatism could have reprocessed mantle material, releasing greenhouse gases and thickening the early atmosphere to sustain warmer conditions, potentially making Mars habitable in its past, while also hinting at near-surface mineral wealth.
- Mars may have once been filled with seas of magma that made the Red Planet habitable Space
- Seismic evidence for a melt-depleted lower crust and transcrustal magmatism on Mars Nature
- Rumbles Deep Inside Mars Hint at a Vast, Ancient Magma System ScienceAlert
- Mars May Have Vast Magma Systems Beneath Its Surface Universe Today
- New Evidence Suggests Vast Hidden Magma Systems Inside Mars Astrobiology Web
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