Researchers from the University of Oxford , in collaboration with international space agencies, determined that the largest-ever recorded Marsquake, S1222a, was caused by tectonic forces, not a meteorite impact, suggesting that Mars may be more seismically active than previously thought. (Artist’s concept of the aftermath of a Mars quake.)
A global collaboration led by the University of Oxford has determined that the largest-ever seismic event on Mars, known as S1222a, was not caused by a meteorite impact. Instead, the event, which was recorded by NASA’s InSight lander and lasted for over six hours, is believed to have been the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars’ crust. This discovery suggests that Mars is more seismically active than previously believed, which could have implications for future habitation efforts on the planet. The results have been published on October 17 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
A global collaboration led by the University of Oxford has determined that the largest-ever seismic event on Mars, known as S1222a, was not caused by a meteorite impact. Instead, the event, which was recorded by NASA’s InSight lander and lasted for over six hours, is believed to have been the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars’ crust. This discovery suggests that Mars is more seismically active than previously believed, which could have implications for future habitation efforts on the planet. The results have been published on October 17 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Although Mars is smaller than Earth, it has a similar land surface area because it has no oceans. In order to survey this huge amount of ground – 144 million km2 – study lead Dr. Benjamin Fernando from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics sought contributions from the European Space Agency, the Chinese National Space Agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation, and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. This is thought to be the first time that all missions in orbit around Mars have collaborated on a single project. University of Oxford
During its time on Mars, InSight (which was co-designed by the University of Oxford) recorded at least 8 marsquake events caused by meteoroid impacts. The largest two of these formed craters around 150m in diameter. If the S1222a event was formed by an impact, the crater would be expected to be at least 300m in diameter. Each group examined data from their satellites orbiting Mars to look for a new crater, or any other tell-tale signature of an impact (e.g. a dust cloud appearing in the hours after the quake).