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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Frequency Mixing Magnetic Detection Scanner for Imaging Magnetic Particles in Planar Samples
Published on: June 9, 2016
Detection of magnetospheric ion drift patterns at Mars
Chi Zhang1,2,3, Hans Nilsson4, Yusuke Ebihara5
1Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Mars lacks a global magnetic field, and instead possesses small-scale crustal magnetic fields, making its magnetic environment fundamentally different from intrinsic magnetospheres like those of Earth or Saturn. Here we report the discovery of magnetospheric ion drift patterns, typical of intrinsic magnetospheres, at Mars using measurements from Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission. Specifically, we observe wedge-like dispersion structures of hydrogen ions exhibiting butterfly-shaped distributions (pitch angle peaks at 22.5°-45° and 135°-157.5°) within the Martian crustal fields, a feature previously observed only in planetary-scale intrinsic magnetospheres. These dispersed structures are the results of drift motions that fundamentally resemble those observed in intrinsic magnetospheres. Our findings indicate that the Martian magnetosphere embodies an intermediate case where both the unmagnetized and magnetized ion behaviors could be observed because of the wide range of strengths and spatial scales of the crustal magnetic fields around Mars.
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