Scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab of NASA have discovered that a lone meteorite could have been responsible for billions of subsequent craters over the surface of Mars.
One Meteorite Crash Caused Billions of Craters
On top of creating the 2.3 million-year-old Corinto crater, which stretches more than 8.6 miles across, the impact also led to the creation of billions of secondary craters by sending huge rock plumes after the space rock hit the Martian surface. Such rocks then bolstered a chain reaction. This added more craters as they came crashing down again.
Matthew Golombek of the JPL, along with colleagues, analyzed satellite shots and estimated the crater count triggered by the impact. They concluded that the Corinto crater had around 1.3 to 3 billion secondary craters, with each one spanning at least 33 feet.
The study could shed light on the complex geological processes that take place over the Martian surface and on how the planet's composition and landscapes have altered as time has passed. This is an extremely important subject, especially since there are impending plans to let humanity set foot on the Red Planet.
The area marked by the massive number of craters is also notably huge, spanning roughly 540,000 square miles. This area coincidentally covers NASA's InSight Mars' landing site.
Golombek explains that it is important to quantify the number of secondary craters in order to know more about how a small crater could potentially eject such material in the process of cratering.
Mars: The Red Planet
The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars is an extremely rocky, dry, and bitterly cold planet. It is also considered the seventh largest planet.
Mars is one of the two closest planetary neighbors of the Earth, the other being Venus. The Red Planet is one of the easiest ones to spot in the night sky, as it has a unique bright red look.
The planet's bright rust color is because of the iron-rich minerals within its regolith. Such minerals rust or oxidize, leading the soil to take on a reddish appearance.
Though Mars has been deemed inhospitable to humans, there have been robotic explorers that serve as pathfinders to bring humans to the Red Planet's surface.
The planet has been the subject of in-depth exploration. NASA's InSight Mars Lander offered a deeper look into Mars' interior, including its core, mantle, and crust. Meanwhile, the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers have been examining ancient habitable environments that are exposed on the Martian surface. The two missions were able to recover evidence that the basic ingredients for life were present on Mars' surface or near-subsurface billions of years ago.
It has also been confirmed that water used to exist on the Martian surface and that the Red Planet was once habitable. It also used to have a thicker atmosphere compared to its present one.
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