preprints.org > engineering > aerospace engineering > doi: 10.20944/preprints202311.0605.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 8 November 2023 / Approved: 9 November 2023 / Online: 9 November 2023 (10:55:56 CET)

Gravitational data are the only ones able to provide otherwise hidden details of what happens below the surface. In this paper, several models are implemented to constrain them with the outer structure of Mars: firstly a Bouguer inversion to reduce gravitational residual, obtaining a crustal depth in the range 23.19-94.56 km. Successively, it was considered an Airy model providing for local buoyancy. Given that its configuration does not permit to evaluate properly the different flexural responses of the lithosphere, and that it overcompensates for the crust of the highest volcanic conformations, a flexural response function was used to filter this model. It uses the lithosphere elastic thickness T_e to scale especially the short wavelengths, correcting for local phenomena. Finally, an optimization was implemented to find the best-fitting values for T_e, using both an infinite plate and a thin shell approximation, and then obtain a global map for crustal density and thickness. Even if the Martian dichotomy is basically confirmed by all the models, along with the well-known anomalies localized at the major basin craters and volcanic Paterae, the Bouguer model supplies the best representation of the state-of-the-art knowledge about the outer layers of Mars and with further improvements can represent a future benchmark for the research on the Red Planet.

Mars; Geophysics; Bouguer; Gravity Models; Planetary Interiors; Crustal Variations

Engineering, Aerospace Engineering

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