An asteroid crash might have triggered a Martian megatsunami roughly 3.4 billion years earlier. New research study has determined an effect crater that might have resulted from the asteroid impact that triggered the megatsunami.
Mars Megatsunami May Have Been Caused by Chicxulub-Like Asteroid Impact
A Martian megatsunami may have been triggered by an asteroid crash comparable to the Chicxulub impact– which contributed to the mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs in the world 66 million years ago– in a shallow ocean region. This is according to a study released today (December 1) in the journal Scientific Reports.
Previous research study has actually proposed that an asteroid or comet effect within an ocean in the Martian northern lowlands might have triggered a megatsunami approximately 3.4 billion years back. Nevertheless, prior to this research study, the area of the resulting effect crater was uncertain.
Alexis Rodriguez and associates analyzed maps of Mars surface area, created by integrating images from previous missions to the world, and determined an effect crater that could have resulted from the asteroid accident that caused the megatsunami. The crater– which they have actually named Pohl– has a size of about 70 miles (110 kilometers) and is situated within an area of the northern lowlands that previous research studies have recommended might have been covered by an ocean, in a region around 400 feet (120 meters) listed below its proposed water level. The authors suggest that Pohl might have formed around 3.4 billion years ago based on its position above and below rocks previously dated to this time.
The authors simulated asteroid and comet collisions with this area to evaluate what type of effect that might have created Pohl and whether this might have caused a megatsunami. They discovered that the simulations that formed craters with comparable measurements to Pohl were brought on by either a nine-kilometer asteroid coming across strong ground resistance– launching 13 million megatons of TNT energy– or a three-kilometer asteroid experiencing weak ground resistance– releasing 0.5 million megatons of TNT energy. The amount of energy launched by Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever checked, was roughly 57 megatons of TNT energy.
Both simulated effects formed craters measuring 70 miles (110 kilometers) in size and created megatsunamis that reached as far as 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the center of the effect site. Analysis of the megatsunami triggered by the two-mile (three-kilometer) asteroid impact suggested that this tsunami may have determined up to roughly 820 feet (250 meters) high on land.
The authors suggest that the after-effects of the proposed Pohl impact may have had similarities with the Chicxulub impact on Earth, which previous research has actually recommended took place within a region 650 feet (200 meters) listed below water level, generated a crater with a short-lived size of 60 miles (100 kilometers), and resulted in a megatsunami that was 650 feet (200 meters high) on land.
Reference: “Evidence of an oceanic effect and megatsunami sedimentation in Chryse Planitia, Mars” 1 December 2022, Scientific Reports.DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-022-18082-2.
Alexis Rodriguez and associates examined maps of Mars surface, produced by combining images from previous missions to the world, and determined an impact crater that could have resulted from the asteroid crash that triggered the megatsunami. The authors simulated asteroid and comet accidents with this region to check what type of impact that could have created Pohl and whether this could have led to a megatsunami. They found that the simulations that formed craters with similar measurements to Pohl were caused by either a nine-kilometer asteroid coming across strong ground resistance– launching 13 million megatons of TNT energy– or a three-kilometer asteroid encountering weak ground resistance– releasing 0.5 million megatons of TNT energy.