New research from Curtin University confirmed that Mars is frequently hit by asteroids that formed the impact craters on its surface over the past 600 million years. The team used a crater detection algorithm to count all impact craters, including when and how they were formed to predict future asteroid impacts.
The study, titled "Has the Impact Flux of Small and Large Asteroids Varied Through Time on Mars, the Earth and the Moon?" published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, analyzed the formation of 521 large Martian craters and created a statistical assessment of the lunar and terrestrial rate of crater formation.
Sirenum Fossae, Mars
Consistent Asteroid Impact Scarred the Martian Surface
The Martian surface has multiple craters due to the consistent asteroid impact throughout its history. However, scientists have yet to uncover how often space rocks would crash on the Red Planet and for how long those collisions consistently happened.
Previous theories explained that asteroids would randomly impact Mars on its surface. However, the crater detection algorithm Curtin University researchers developed revealed otherwise. Syfy reported that the algorithm showed that Mars would have known when to expect asteroid impacts for the last 600 million years.
Anthony Lagan, a researcher at Curtin University, led a team of scientists to show how frequently Martian craters are formed. The group said that the long-term impact flux of asteroids is most likely constant for more than 600 years and that the influence of the past asteroid break-ups in the rate of crater formation is limited or inexistent.
Given that Mars is so close to the asteroid belt, it is not surprising that it is constantly bombarded with space rocks. It partly explains the suspicion that there are spikes in crater formation because some debris are seen flying from a humongous crash that could have formed the smaller craters. But the AI they used to count those craters has proven it wrong.
Comparing Asteroid Impact on Mars, Moon, and Earth
The AI is also adapted to count craters on other cosmic bodies, such as the Moon, and Earth. It can automatically count and make observations easily, which cannot be done by observing Earth from the outside.
As Syfy reported, researchers were able to virtually rewind and reconstruct tectonic plates from millions of years ago to see impact craters that could have caused the formation of Earth, which indicates that there might be clusters of craters that were formed around 470 million years ago.
Researchers said in a news release that the crater detection algorithm provides a thorough understanding of the formation of impact craters and the size, quantity, timing, and frequency of the asteroid collisions that made them. Professor Gretchen Benedix, study co-author and leader of the team, said that the formation of thousands of lunar craters could be analyzed at a higher resolution using the new technology.
By doing so, scientists will gain valuable information that they could use for practical application in nature preservation and agriculture here on Earth. The study also showed that asteroids that range between 5 meters to 1 kilometer could have impacted Mars, while Earth's craters are mainly due to tectonic reconstruction. Researchers also noticed that the Moon experienced a late increase in the crater age.
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