Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Marsquakes indicate that the inner core of the red planet is solid, not liquid

An analysis of seismic waves propagating through Mars finds evidence that the planet has a small, solid inner core, which challenges existing planetary models.
By
  1. Nicholas C. Schmerr

    1. Nicholas C. Schmerr is in the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

In December 2018, for the first time since 1976, a seismometer station was deployed on the surface of Mars. For four years, NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission1 recorded seismic waves from ‘marsquakes’, which built a picture of the inner structure of the red planet. Writing in Nature, Bi et al.2 report analysis of InSight data that reveals evidence of a small, solid inner core at the centre of Mars. This finding challenges current models of the planet’s evolution and present-day structure.

Access options

Access through your institution

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 645, 50-52 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02530-w

References

  1. Banerdt, W. B. et al. Nature Geosci. 13, 183–189 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bi, H. et al. Nature 645, 67–72 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lehmann, I. Publ. Bur. Cent. Seismol. Int. Strasbg 14, 87–115 (1936).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Khan, A. et al. Science 373, 434–438 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Stähler, S. C. et al. Science 373, 443–448 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Rost, S. & Thomas, C. Rev. Geophys. 40, 1008 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Irving, J. C. E. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2217090120 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Le Maistre, S. et al. Nature 619, 733–737 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Khan, A. et al. Nature 622, 718–723 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Samuel, H. et al. Nature 622, 712–717 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links