Partially Melted Low Velocity Zones Reveal an Active Martian Mantle Below Elysium Planitia

Partially Melted Low Velocity Zones Reveal an Active Martian Mantle Below Elysium Planitia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Partially Melted Low Velocity Zones Reveal an Active Martian Mantle Below Elysium Planitia Daoyuan Sun, Mingwei Dai, Chenyang Zhao, Zhu Mao, Ningyu Sun, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The current state of Mars’s interior is fundamental to understanding its thermal evolution, volcanic history, and potential habitability. While global-scale magmatism has declined since the Amazonian epoch, recent volcanism and concentrated seismicity in Elysium Planitia suggest localized, ongoing mantle activity, yet direct evidence has remained elusive. Here, we analyze InSight seismic data, combining receiver functions and PP/SS precursors to image crustal and upper mantle structures beneath three locations in Elysium Planitia. We identify consistent low-velocity zones (LVZs) at depths of ~ 70–100 km, marked by shear wave velocity reductions up to 36%. These anomalies are best explained by adiabatic decompression melting within a high-temperature upper mantle, with estimated melt fractions of 2–13%, potentially aided by the presence of water. Our results provide direct seismic evidence for partial melting and active dynamic mantle processes beneath Elysium Planitia, likely driven by a mantle plume, suggesting that Mars’s interior remains thermochemically active today. Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Inner planets Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Seismology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementary.docx Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7036209","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":489243332,"identity":"5407a196-f064-4ea0-ace2-b5ada1d1e11d","order_by":0,"name":"Daoyuan Sun","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIie3OIQvCQBjG8ZPBzXCYJ6J+hUcGFr/MjQNXThEsBsNZNFrnt7BZlYFpsrqoxWS4aBD1gsG0XRS8P1w4eH7wEuJy/WS8duagnc/PsyIe9KQRftZ2hDYT3YmUNemuJFoM/Xib5wdNZoNI+ad9KUF2Q8gwHG0L4QUkiyPFxrycBBKC4WiIR0ltmUYqYCg/LJFIGV4x8tSQpwUhhewtElCOvTBEWRBk1ynRoL1NIcKAH+NwyWTFYSuxu/MH7Tbyw0Xr+aC99rOKw0j9a8DNoxV7k3+u3rhcLtd/9waJ6ERZtRCI8wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4461-4664","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daoyuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":489243333,"identity":"803e58d3-231d-4a3c-9b95-258c654e2b95","order_by":1,"name":"Mingwei Dai","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2282-4524","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Dai","suffix":""},{"id":489243334,"identity":"03abcd2a-8024-4f52-8e30-6044bc0de01e","order_by":2,"name":"Chenyang Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chenyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":489243335,"identity":"ac4e2f75-e021-4335-9974-3bc1936c913e","order_by":3,"name":"Zhu Mao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhu","middleName":"","lastName":"Mao","suffix":""},{"id":489243336,"identity":"73429550-ae3f-45aa-8b7e-002bacef75e1","order_by":4,"name":"Ningyu Sun","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8723-9529","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ningyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":489243337,"identity":"dfa0d7f4-b6be-41d0-8e75-2b6261e52c1b","order_by":5,"name":"Huixing Bi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huixing","middleName":"","lastName":"Bi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-03 09:10:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":87548677,"identity":"006fcc1e-a6b3-406b-9a8d-29aa71fd78e7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-25 05:39:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2073342,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7036209/v1_covered_c419c5c8-d1f1-46aa-b964-8efb24b83864.pdf"},{"id":87547610,"identity":"3785768c-56dd-478e-8589-1f09289401b1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-25 05:31:24","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":22494891,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information","description":"","filename":"Supplementary.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7036209/v1/d585a646b314eca7dacd284f.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Partially Melted Low Velocity Zones Reveal an Active Martian Mantle Below Elysium Planitia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe current state of Mars’s interior is fundamental to understanding its thermal evolution, volcanic history, and potential habitability. While global-scale magmatism has declined since the Amazonian epoch, recent volcanism and concentrated seismicity in Elysium Planitia suggest localized, ongoing mantle activity, yet direct evidence has remained elusive. Here, we analyze InSight seismic data, combining receiver functions and PP/SS precursors to image crustal and upper mantle structures beneath three locations in Elysium Planitia. We identify consistent low-velocity zones (LVZs) at depths of ~ 70–100 km, marked by shear wave velocity reductions up to 36%. These anomalies are best explained by adiabatic decompression melting within a high-temperature upper mantle, with estimated melt fractions of 2–13%, potentially aided by the presence of water. Our results provide direct seismic evidence for partial melting and active dynamic mantle processes beneath Elysium Planitia, likely driven by a mantle plume, suggesting that Mars’s interior remains thermochemically active today.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Partially Melted Low Velocity Zones Reveal an Active Martian Mantle Below Elysium Planitia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-25 05:31:19","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7036209/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"15d5cf40-769c-4894-99ea-21c03f929ea7","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":51940274,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Inner planets"},{"id":51940275,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Seismology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-25T05:31:19+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-25 05:31:19","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7036209","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7036209","identity":"rs-7036209","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}