In ancient times, two asteroids fell on the Martian ocean, which led to the appearance of megatsunami. These are the conclusions reached by geophysicists from the EU, USA and China. Research on this has been published in Scientific Reports and briefly reported by EurekAlert!
Based on geomorphological and thermal images of the outflow channels (long and wide lowlands caused by prolonged flooding and erosion) and the Arab land in the north of the planet, scientists have shown that two asteroids fell to its surface about 3.4 billion years ago.
They left behind a couple of impact craters with a diameter of more than 30 kilometers each. Their traces are still visible on Mars. Numerical simulations carried out by scientists have shown that as a result of catastrophic events on the planet, two tsunami waves with a height of about 100 meters each have arisen.
Image: Alexis Rodriguez
The first tsunami led to the release of huge masses of liquid water onto land with the formation of outflow channels. Of these, the liquid, along with fragments of soil, was transported back to the ocean after some time. The second asteroid fell later when there was a frozen ocean on Mars. The fall of this celestial body caused a wave, as a result of which a second coastline was formed (since the water froze extremely quickly and practically did not return back to the ocean).
Proof of the theory of scientists is the discovery of differences between the coastlines of the ocean 50 meters high (in salt deposits and relief details). This difference appeared, as shown by modeling, as a result of the impact of the second giant tsunami.
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Scientists note that although they found clear signs of a tsunami in one of the regions of Mars, such phenomena occurred regularly in ancient times in other parts of the planet (about every three million years, a large asteroid collided with Mars).
It is believed that in the Hesperian era (3.2-3.7 billion years ago), Mars had a dense atmosphere (pressure at the base of which is comparable to that existing on Earth today) and a hydrosphere (consisting of liquid salt water). Scientists do not exclude that the humid climate could have contributed to the maintenance of life on the planet.