According to a study published in Scientific ReportsThe Martian megatsunami may have been caused by an asteroid impact similar to the Chicxulub effect, which caused the mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs on Earth in a shallow ocean region 66 million years ago. Previous studies have suggested that an asteroid or comet impact that occurred in the ocean on the northern plain of Mars may have triggered a megatsunami about 3.4 billion years ago. However, the location of the impact crater was unclear until this study.

Alexis Rodriguez and colleagues analyzed maps of the Martian surface created by combining images from previous missions to the planet and found an impact crater that could have caused a megatsunami. The crater, which they named Pohl, has a diameter of 110 kilometers and is located in a region of the northern lowland that previous research has suggested could be covered by the ocean, about 120 meters below predicted sea level. The authors suggest that Pohl may have formed about 3.4 billion years ago, depending on its location above and below rocks that have previously dated to this time.

The authors simulated asteroid and comet collisions with the region to see what kind of collision Paul could cause and whether this could result in a megatsunami. They found that simulations producing Paul-sized craters are caused by a nine-kilometer-long asteroid colliding with strong ground resistance releasing 13 million megatons of TNT energy, or a three-kilometer asteroid colliding with weak ground resistance and releasing 0.5 million megatons. of TNT. energy

The amount of energy released by the Tsar Bomb, the most powerful nuclear bomb ever tested, was about 57 megatons in TNT equivalent. Both simulated collisions produced craters 110 kilometers in diameter and megatsunamis reaching 1,500 kilometers from the center of the collision. Analysis of the megatsunami caused by the impact of the three kilometer asteroid showed that the height of this tsunami on land may have reached about 250 meters.

The authors suggest that the effects of the predicted Pol effect may be similar to the impact Chicxulub had on Earth as a result, which, according to previous studies, occurred in an area 200 meters below sea level, forming a temporary crater 100 kilometers in diameter. in a megatsunami reaching an altitude of 200 meters on land