Comparative planetary seismology across the telluric planets

With the successful deployment and operation of the InSight geophysical mission on Mars and proposals to put new geophysical equipment on the Moon, we have entered a new era of planetary seismology. There is uncertainty regarding both the internal structures of the telluric, or rocky, planets in our solar system and the seismic probes which might best illuminate these bodies. New tools are now available to understand instrumented and un-explored planetary interiors. This project will apply Earth-tested seismological modelling to existing models of planetary interiors: to glean information from existing data and deployments; to make predictions on what might be possible elsewhere in our solar system. There is a strong interest in planetary interiors at the University of Bristol. The project will focus on investigating seismic data from Mars, the Moon, and Earth, and simulating data on a range of different planets. Target planets will include Venus and Mercury and those planets from which we have seismological data. Qs:How would Mercury/Venus look to a seismologist? Which seismic phases are particularly sensitive to the properties of non-terrestrial planetary cores? What are the similarities and differences between seismic observables for different viable models of telluric planets? Are some observations always useful? Beyond ray-theoretical predictions of seismic waves travelling through planets, it is now possible to simulate the full wavefield generated by a seismic event, through a spherically symmetric model, or a more complex planet. Mineral physics has provided new data and Equations of State which can be incorporated into the modelling of planetary interiors using appropriate software. The project will assess seismic data from the Apollo missions, examine new data available from the InSight mission's VBB sensor; assess similar data from the Earth where needed. Modelling planetary interiors based on reasonable putative planetary compositions may be important.