First observations of core-transiting seismic phases on Mars.

We present the first observations of seismic waves propagating through the core of Mars. These observations, made using seismic data collected by the InSight geophysical mission, have allowed us to construct the first seismically constrained models for the elastic properties of Mars' core. We observe core-transiting seismic phase SKS from two farside seismic events detected on Mars and measure the travel times of SKS relative to mantle traversing body waves.

Constraints on the martian crust away from the InSight landing site.

The most distant marsquake recorded so far by the InSight seismometer occurred at an epicentral distance of 146.3 ± 6.9, close to the western end of Valles Marineris.

Changes in seismic anisotropy shed light on the nature of the Gutenberg discontinuity.

The boundary between the lithosphere and asthenosphere is associated with a platewide high-seismic velocity "lid" overlying lowered velocities, consistent with thermal models. Seismic body waves also intermittently detect a sharp velocity reduction at similar depths, the Gutenberg (G) discontinuity, which cannot be explained by temperature alone. We compared an anisotropic tomography model with detections of the G to evaluate their context and relation to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB).

Robust normal mode constraints on inner-core anisotropy from model space search.

A technique for searching full model space that was applied to measurements of anomalously split normal modes showed a robust pattern of P-wave and S-wave anisotropy in the inner core. The parameter describing P-wave anisotropy changes sign around a radius of 400 kilometers, whereas S-wave anisotropy is small in the upper two-thirds of the inner core and becomes negative at greater depths. Our results agree with observed travel-time anomalies of rays traveling at epicentral distances varying from 150 degrees to 180 degrees.