The researchers say differences between the two hemispheres of Mars were likely shaped by convection – the transfer of heat from one place to another – in the Martian mantle over hundreds of millions to billions of years ago. The mantle is the inner layer of Mars sandwiched between the crust and the core.
According to geophysicist and study co-author, ANU Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, the difference in the Red Planet’s hemispheres is “one of the biggest mysteries in the solar system” and there are two competing theories to explain it…
According to the researchers, the InSight lander could become a prototype for future planetary missions. The InSight lander collected data about marsquakes, Martian weather and the planet’s interior from 2018 to 2022.
My deep dive with Professor Tkalčić is available now for members – and on Friday for the world.
