A giant collision in Mars’ early history (IMAGE)
Caption
A giant collision in Mars’ early history created a global magma ocean and buried large fragments of debris deep within the young planet. As Mars cooled, it formed a solid crust — eventually becoming a stagnant lid that trapped heat and slowed the planet’s internal motion. Over billions of years, Mars’ interior evolved as slow convecting currents stretched, folded, and dismantled these ancient structures, leaving behind a jumbled interior filled with scattered remnants. These surviving debris — some large, but many more small and dispersed — form a geological time capsule, preserving clues to the planet’s earliest moments. Today, seismic waves from a much smaller, recent meteorite impact travel through this complex interior. By studying how these waves scatter and change, NASA’s InSight lander has revealed hidden details about the planet’s deep and turbulent past.
Credit
Vadim Sadovski / Imperial College London
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