Tidally induced surface displacements, external potential variations, and gravity variations on Mars

We have used and extended Roosbeek’s tidal potential for Mars to calculate tidal displacements, gravity variations, and external gravitational potential variations. The tides on Mars are caused by the Sun, and to a lesser degree by the natural satellites Phobos (8%, relative to the Sun) and Deimos (0.08%, relative to the Sun). To determine the reaction of Mars to the tidal forcing, the Love numbers h, l, and k and the gravimetric factor δ were calculated for interior models of Mars with different state, density, and radius of the core and for models which include mantle anelasticity. The latitude dependence and frequency dependence of the Love numbers have been taken explicitly into account. The Love numbers are about three times smaller than those for the Earth and are very sensitive to core changes; e.g., a difference of about 30% is found between a model with a liquid core and an otherwise similar model with a solid core. Tidal displacements on Mars are much smaller than on Earth due to the smaller tidal potential, but also due to the smaller reaction of Mars (smaller Love numbers). For both the tidal diplacement and the tidal external potential perturbations, the tidal signal is at the limit of detection and is too small to permit properties of Mars’s interior to be inferred. On the other hand, the Phobos tidally induced gravity changes, which are subdiurnal with typical periods shorter than 12 h, can be measured very precisely by the very broad band seismometer with thermal control of the seismological experiment SEIS of the upcoming NetLander mission. It is shown that the Phobos-induced gravity tides could be used to study the Martian core.