Martian mantle and core

Wanke-Dreibus Mars mantle + crust composition 

Mars bulk silicate (mantle + crust) composition, estimated from Martian meteorites by Wanke and Dreibus (1988). This composition differs from the bulk silicate of Earth, because of differences in volatile element abundances and core differentiation. 

Plot of nickel versus magnesium in Martian rocks and meteorites. GRS-estimated Mg content is also shown. After McSween et al. (2009). 

Estimates of the Mars core composition by the authors listed above suggest it is made of metal plus iron sulfide, the latter varying from 29 to 44 wt.%. Abundances of siderophile (tungsten, phosphorus, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel) and chalcophile (indium, copper) elements in the mantle (Fig. 13.23) are consistent with equilibrium between sulfide, metal, and mantle silicate at high temperature and pressure (Righter and Drake, 1996). 

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Figure 9 Density profile for the martian mantle and core, and stability fields for mantle minerals, based on experiments (Bertka and Fei, 1997) using the geochemical model of Wanke and Dreibus (1988). Positions of the core-mantle boundary for a range of model core compositions (Bertka and Fei, 1998) are also shown.

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