View Full Version : Martian Quakes

2004-Jan-28, 01:02 AM
Don't know if this's been covered before, but since Mars has a solid core (?) would that mean that the quakes it has (when it has them) are not as severe as most on Earth?

Did I miss something, is this logical, are there seismometers that have been placed on Mars to measure this? I tried searching for this, but I didn't really get anywhere.

2004-Jan-28, 02:15 AM
Well, if Mar's core is solid, that means it is geothermically dead. No geothermic activity means no volcanoes or plate movement means no marsquakes.

Putting up a seismometer is actually an interesting idea.
It *shouldn't* record anything but the vibration from the rover rolling around, but on the off chance it DID record something, it would be a major find. That either Mars ISN'T a dead planet, or that there is something else going on that we've never seen before.

2004-Jan-28, 02:52 AM

2004-Jan-28, 03:17 AM
I believe that the Viking landers carried siesmographs. I don't remember what was learned from them though.

2004-Jan-28, 03:59 AM
I wouldn't bet on Mars being completely dead, some of the volcanoes appear that they may have had extrusions in the last few million years. That's like yesterday in geological terms.

The whole core isn't liquid, but there still might be enough molten material to reach the surface occasionally.