The very early thermal state of Terra Cimmeria: Implications for magnetic carriers in the crust of Mars

Abstract

Large areas of strongly magnetized crust are located in Terra Cimmeria and Terra Sirenum, in the southern highlands of Mars, the older terrains on the planet. The typical depth to the base of the magnetized layer, deduced from the magnetic spectrum of Mars and modeling of isolated magnetic anomalies, would 40–60 km. In this paper the thermal state of Terra Cimmeria is revisited by calculating heat flows and crustal geotherms consistent with a previous estimation of the effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere, and with crustal abundances of heat-producing elements based on surface measurements performed by the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer. The results suggest that, at the time of formation of the magnetized terrains surface (which have a minimum age of 4.1 Ga), Curie depths for magnetite and hematite were shallower and similar, respectively, than the typical depth to the base of the magnetized layer. This implies that hematite is an important (if not dominant) contributor to the magnetization of the martian crust. However, an early warm climate would enhance the chance of magnetite to be a significant, even dominant, magnetization carrier in the lower portion of the magnetic layer.