Mysterious Quakes Are Happening On Mars And Scientists Need To Know Why
Just when the Earth begins to settle down, Mars says, “hold my beer.”
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It’s been a crazy ride these past few years. With the obvious chaos and tragedy caused by the unforgiving tornado and hurricane seasons, we as a global whole have about had enough. But, just when the Earth begins to settle down, Mars says, “hold my beer.” For a while, most of us counted the old gal out as a planet with not much happening on it. Now, several rumbles have been detected under its surface. To be fair, it’s very possible that these shakings aren’t new and have in fact been happening for a long time, but are just now being discovered by new technology.
Before we send you screaming off in a panic, we should let you know that just because Mars is shaking, that doesn’t mean trouble for those of us living on the third rock from the sun. Instead, it reveals that there could yet be life under our neighboring planet’s surface, something we weren’t expecting. This new finding will help scientists in a wave of different ways as they continue to study the enigmatic Mars. Among other things, it will help them determine answers surrounding how the planet’s core and mantle are holding up as well as what’s been going on with its magnetic field, something Mars doesn’t have at this time.
Out of the three topics of study, Mars’ magnetic field may be the most important in helping us understand the planet better. Other planets in our solar system have magnetic fields that are typically generated from inside of the planet, something that, up until now, hasn’t even been part of the picture for Mars. Because of this, questions surrounding seismic activity on the Martian planet haven’t even entered the conversation. But, now that there are rumblings, we can finally move on to look for more answers surrounding the magnetic field.
But, why are magnetic fields so important? Here’s why! If a planet such as Mars has no magnetic field, the chances of it being the home to any living organisms are knocked all the way down. For us Earthlings, our home planet’s magnetic field keeps us safe from the intense cosmic radiation that could very easily wipe out all living things.
While we’ve always chased down the dream of Mars having signs of life, that dream has never flown closer to the sun than it is now. Back in 2018, NASA sent its InSight lander to patrol the surface of the planet and see what it could dig up, so to speak. While there, the machine found that the planet had plenty of seismic activity happening, leading a team of scientists to buckle down and get to work uncovering anything they could about what this meant for the planet as a whole.
Their studies uncovered that the surface of Mars has been volcanically active within the last 10 million years, which is pretty huge for a planet thought to be fairly dormant. Even though this is just the beginning of findings surrounding the quakes happening on Mars, it’s certainly a huge jumping off point. Not only will it help us determine facts about the planet’s past, but it will also be a guide to understand what could happen in its future.
