Discovering Mars’ Mysterious Core: Could It Be the Stench of Rotten Eggs?

Recent experiments have revealed that Mars formed its core much more quickly than Earth’s. This surprising speed comes from molten iron and nickel sulfides moving through solid rock into the center of the planet.

Planets, like onions, have layers. At the surface, we have the crust. Below that is the mantle, followed by a solid outer core and a molten inner core. The inner core spins, generating a magnetic field.

Scientists refer to this layering process as “differentiation.” It happens when heavier elements, like iron and nickel, sink toward the center, while lighter materials stay outward. Typically, scientists believed that a planet’s interior must be molten for these metals to sink. This melting usually occurs due to heat from radioactive elements like aluminum-26.

Earth’s core likely formed this way over a billion years. However, Mars tells a different story. Analysis of Martian meteorites shows evidence that its core formed in just a few million years. This suggests Mars developed much faster than Earth, but previous models couldn’t explain why.

Scientists from NASA’s Johnson Space Center think they’ve discovered the answer. They studied how Mars formed within the protoplanetary disk—a spinning cloud of gas and dust surrounding the young sun. In this disk, iron, nickel, and lighter materials like oxygen and sulfur coexisted where Mars was born.

The NASA team found that molten iron and nickel sulfides could seep through tiny cracks in solid rock, leading to a faster core formation. This process could explain why Mars’ core formed quickly, without any unusual growth spurts early on.

Led by Sam Crossley, researchers heated samples of sulfate-rich rock over 1,020 degrees Celsius, causing sulfides to melt without affecting the silicate rock. They could visualize how these melts moved through the rock, percolating through the cracks.

To confirm their findings, they also examined meteorite samples. They used a laser ablation method to trace minerals in complex experimental samples. This technique successfully matched the residues found in certain chondritic meteorites. Their results indicate that molten sulfides can migrate to the center of a planet, forming a core before surrounding rocks melt.

This model may apply to many other planetary bodies formed in similar conditions, not just Mars. The researchers suggest that Mars’ core likely contains a significant amount of sulfur—an element famously known for its rotten egg smell.

Published on April 4 in Nature Communications, this research helps shed light on the formation of Mars and could answer crucial questions about its geological history.

As we continue to study Mars, public interest has surged, especially on social media. Hashtags like #MarsCore and #SpaceDiscovery have gained traction, reflecting excitement about what these findings could mean for future explorations and our understanding of planetary formation across the solar system.

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