In a breakthrough, scientists have uncovered the internal structure of Mars!

Researchers from Imperial College London, in collaboration with American colleagues, conducted a study based on data from NASA’s InSight probe, which ended its mission in 2022. The seismometer installed on the probe recorded 1,319 marsquakes, enabling for the first time in history a detailed measurement of the thickness and composition of the Red Planet’s crust, mantle, and core.

Since the speed and shape of seismic waves change as they pass through different types of rocks, the researchers noticed certain areas in the mantle where signals slowed down. Computer modeling showed this was not a coincidence but indicated the presence of giant rocks up to four kilometers in diameter, differing in composition from surrounding rocks, hidden deep within the planet.

According to the researchers, these rocks are direct evidence of events that occurred 4.5 billion years ago, when giant asteroids and protoplanets bombarded the early solar system. These impacts caused melting of the crust and mantle, forming magma oceans, parts of which became trapped deep inside Mars.

The researchers point out that such rocks would have disappeared on Earth due to tectonic plate movements constantly mixing the planet’s interior. On Mars, however, the geological “mixer” works very slowly, which is why these ancient rocks survived to help scientists today study the era of planet formation.