Overview
- A study published June 26, 2026 in Nature Astronomy used NASA InSight seismic records to infer a roughly 14-kilometre thick ultramafic lower crust beneath a mafic upper layer under the lander site.
- Researchers matched observed seismic wave speeds to hundreds of rock-composition models using thermodynamic and petrological calculations to test which crustal layouts fit the data.
- The best-fit scenario implies large, long-lived transcrustal magmatic systems that stored and processed mantle melt throughout the crust instead of only producing simple, local basalt flows.
- The conclusion expands how evolved crust and some habitability-related processes could arise without plate tectonics but rests on a single, immobile InSight station and model assumptions that require broader testing.
- The finding challenges the classic ‘stagnant lid’ view of Mars, aligns with other seismic and gravity hints of deep mantle activity near Tharsis and Elysium, and means more seismic or orbital data will be needed to map the full extent of these systems.