Mapping the Seismicity of Mars With InSight

Abstract

The InSight seismometers have recorded more than 1300 events. Ninety‐eight of these, named the low‐frequency family, show energy predominantly below 1 Hz down to ∼0.1 Hz. The Marsquake Service identified seismic phases and computed distances for 42 of these marsquakes, 24 of which have backazimuths. Hence, the locations of the majority of low‐frequency family events remain undetermined. Here, we use an envelope shape similarity approach to determine event classes and distances, and introduce an alternative method to estimate the backazimuth. In our analysis, we use the highest quality marsquakes with known distances as templates, including the largest event S1222a, and assign new distances to similar group of events for which distance estimates were not previously available. We find the Tharsis region to be more active than initially perceived on the basis of 5 newly located events near Valles Marineris and Olympus Mons. We relocate two marsquakes with little or no S‐wave energy in the NE of the Elysium Bulge. The event epicenters in Cerberus Fossae follow a north‐south trend due to uncertainties in location, while the fault system is in the NW‐SE direction; therefore, these events are re‐projected along the observed fault system based on our interpretations. The marsquakes in our interpreted catalog are predominantly observed in the northern hemisphere of Mars above the equatorial dichotomy boundary.

Using InSight Data to Calibrate Seismicity From Remote Observations of Surface Faulting

“…Boulder tracks also suggest recent activity at Cerberus Fossae (Roberts et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2013). The InSight Mission has shown that Cerberus Fossae is still active (Brinkman et al., 2021; Ceylan et al., 2023; Jacob et al., 2022; Perrin et al., 2022; Stähler et al., 2022).…”

“…The frequency of global events M w ≤ 3 is similar to that of terrestrial intraplate seismic activity. Of the total recorded seismicity, more than half can be attributed to Cerberus Fossae (Ceylan et al., 2023; Jacob et al., 2022; Stähler et al., 2022). Stähler et al.…”

“…The bulk of tectonic activity detected by InSight has occurred in Cerberus Fossae (Ceylan et al., 2023; Clinton & Euchner, 2022; Drilleau et al., 2022; Jacob et al., 2022; Kim et al., 2023). Low frequency quakes, which suggest potentially warm source regions, are deeper than 15 km (Drilleau et al., 2022; Stähler et al., 2021, 2022).…”

Seismic Autocorrelation Analysis of Deep Mars

“…In early 2019, it deployed the only seismic station, SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure), to record the seismic vibrations on Mars (Lognonné et al., 2019). The InSight seismometer successfully detected ∼1,300 Marsquake events before its termination in December 2022 (Ceylan et al., 2023), providing indications of Martian tectonic activity (Ceylan et al., 2022; Drilleau et al., 2022; Giardini et al., 2020; Horleston et al., 2022; Jacob et al., 2022; Sun & Tkalčić, 2022). These seismic data have been used to determine the interior structures of the red planet at different scales using surface wave analysis (Beghein et al., 2022; Deng & Levander, 2022; Kim et al., 2022; Li et al., 2023; Xu et al., 2023), autocorrelation functions (ACFs) (Compaire et al., 2021; Deng & Levander, 2020, 2022; Qin et al., 2023; Schimmel et al., 2021), receiver functions (Knapmeyer‐Endrun et al., 2021; Lognonné et al., 2020), anisotropy analysis (Li et al., 2022), attenuation modeling (Karakostas et al., 2021) and geophysical inversion (Khan et al., 2021; Stähler et al., 2021).…”