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Fig. 4 | Progress in Earth and Planetary Science

Fig. 4

From: Mars core structure—concise review and anticipated insights from InSight

Fig. 4

Liquidus curves for a suite of fixed compositions in Mars’ core (solid lines; these are iso-compositional sections through Fig. 3), superimposed with various adiabatic temperature profiles initiated at the core-mantle boundary (dashed lines; ranges shown for 1.2≤γ≤1.6 for each labeled T CMB) and extending through the core. Fe crystallizes where the liquidus curve slope is negative, whereas Fe 3−x S 2 crystallizes if the slope is positive (Fig. 3). For T CMB < 1300 K, the core is solid, whereas if T CMB > 1450 K it is liquid. At any T CMB < 1850 K, the top of the core crystallizes an Fe ‘snow’; if, moreover, T CMB < 1450 K, the base crystallizes an Fe 3−x S 2 “ground fog.” Adiabats calculated using d log(T)/d z=γ g(r)/V P 2(r) with z the depth below the CMB using data from Rivoldini et al. (2011)

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