THERMOELASTIC PROPERTIES OF MARS’ CORE AND AN ANOMALOUS LAYER AT THE MARTIAN CORE–MANTLE BOUNDARY
Seminars
Semester 2
Seismic observations made on Mars previously constrained the radius and mean density of its core to be 1830±40 km and 5.7–6.3 g/cm³, respectively. Such a large and light core requires a significant amount of light elements, greater than what was cosmochemically available in the likely building blocks of Mars. This talk will discuss (a) the difficulties encountered by earlier models in accounting for the elastic properties of Mars’ core, (b) how these were reconciled by introducing an anomalous layer at the top of the core, and (c) its implications for Mars’ thermal history. Biography Prof. Dongyang Huang obtained his BE (2013) from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), China, and PhD (2019) from Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France. He was a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich (2020–2024). Since 2024, he has been an Assistant Professor at Peking University. Combining laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments with first-principles molecular dynamics simulations, his research focuses on the formation and differentiation of rocky planets, and the chemical and physical properties of their interiors. For additional information, please contact Prof. Jiacheng Liu, jcliu01@hku.hk.