Mars’ Low Dissipation Factor at 11-h - Interpretation from Anelasticity-Based Dissipation Model

Details Mars’ Low Dissipation Factor at 11-h - Interpretation from Anelasticity-Based Dissipation Model Mars’ Low Dissipation Factor at 11-h - Interpretation from Anelasticity-Based Dissipation Model

Oct 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.5102c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #51.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1069

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We explore the information contained in the ratio of the tidal Love number k2 to the dissipation factor Q characterizing the response of Mars to the tides exerted by its satellite Phobos (11-h period). Assuming that Mars can be approximated as a Maxwell body, Bills et al. [1] have inferred an average viscosity of the Martian mantle 8.7x1014 Pa s. Such a low viscosity appears inconsistent with Mars’ thermal evolution and current heat budget models. Alternative explanations include the presence of partial melt in the mantle [2], or the presence of an aquifer in the crust [3]. We revisit the interpretation of Mars’ k2/Q using a laboratory-based attenuation model that accounts for material viscoelasticity and anelasticity. As a first step, we have computed Mars’ k2/Q for an interior model that includes a solid inner core, a liquid core layer, a mantle, and crust (consistent with the observed moment of inertia, and k2 measured at the orbital period), and searched for the range of mantle viscosities that can explain the observed k2/Q. Successful models are characterized by an average mantle viscosity between 1018 and 1022 Pa s, which rules out the presence of partial melt in the mantle. We can narrow down that range by performing a more detailed calculation of the mineralogy and temperature profiles. Preliminary results will be presented at the meeting.
References: [1] Bills et al. (2005) JGR 110, E00704; [2] Ruedas et al. (2009 White paper to the NRC Planetary Science decadal survey; [3] Bills et al. (2009) LPS 40, 1712.
MC is supported by a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. This work has been conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract to NASA. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

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