INTERIOR DYNAMICS OF MARS: INSIGHTS FROM GEODYNAMIC MODELS AND OBSERVATIONS

Ana Catalina Plesa – German Aerospace Center, Berlin

Over the past decades, large-scale numerical simulations of interior evolution have grown to become one of the most powerful approaches to model the interior of terrestrial planets. Geodynamic models are employed to model the evolution and distribution of the interior temperature that ultimately affects the distribution of seismic velocities, surface heat flow, and partial melting of the mantle. Combined with constraints derived from planetary mission data and laboratory experiments, these models help us to improve our understanding of the history and present-day thermal state of planetary interiors. In this presentation, I will focus on the thermal evolution and present-day state of Mars. Results from numerical thermal evolution models will be compared with geophysical and geological data sets, and will focus in particular on recent measurements of NASA’s InSight mission in order to provide constraints for the thermal state and interior structure of Mars.