Abstract
Clues to the history of Mars are recorded in the chemistry and structure of the planet's crust and mantle. The mantle is the rocky, interior region of the planet that transports heat generated during accretion and subsequent core formation. The crust formed by melting of the upper mantle, and has been shaped and re-distributed by impact, volcanism, mantle flow and erosion. Observations point to a dynamically active interior in the early phases of martian history, followed by a rapid fall-off in heat transport that significantly influenced the geological, geophysical and geochemical evolution of the planet, including the history of water and climate.
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Acknowledgements
I thank G. Neumann and O. Aharonson for assistance with the crustal thickness inversion, H. McSween and W. Hartmann for providing material used in the figures, and J. Head, H. McSween and N. Sleep for helpful reviews. I also acknowledge helpful discussions with M. Parmentier, T. Grove, B. Weiss and members of the Mars Global Surveyor Laser Altimeter and Radio Science teams. This work was supported by the Mars Global Surveyor Project of the NASA Mars Exploration Program.
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Zuber, M. The crust and mantle of Mars. Nature 412, 220–227 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35084163
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35084163
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