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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Mars _ Mars: A New Core-Crystallization Regime

Posted by: AlexBlackwell May 31 2007, 06:20 PM

There is a Mars-related paper in the http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol316/issue5829/index.dtl. The embargo isn't lifted for a couple of more hours, so the direct links below are not currently active. However, you can get a brief synopsis http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol316/issue5829/twis.dtl#316/5829/1249d.

Mars: A New Core-Crystallization Regime
Andrew J. Stewart, Max W. Schmidt, Wim van Westrenen, and Christian Liebske
Science 316, 1323-1325 (2007)
High-pressure experiments imply that Mars has an entirely liquid iron-nickel-sulfur core that, unlike Earth's core, will not form an iron-rich solid inner region as it cools.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/316/5829/1323
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/316/5829/1323/DC1

See also:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070531_mars_core.html
By Dave Mosher, Space.com
posted: 31 May 2007
02:03 pm ET

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11962-lab-study-indicates-mars-has-a-molten-core.html
16:53 31 May 2007
NewScientist.com news service
David Shiga

Posted by: CosmicRocker Jun 4 2007, 04:35 AM

That is quite interesting. The core could possibly be molten, yet there is no active magnetic field. But then, these people might not have a solid handle on the sulfur concentration, so the core might not really be molten. I guess it just shows how much we really don't know about our solar system.

It kind of reminds me of the recent studies of Mercury's magnetic field.