Revealing Mars' past: The colossal impact behind 2 billion craters

Mars is one of those planets that draws special attention from researchers around the world. During the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, experts presented the latest research on it. According to them, an object that struck the Red Planet approximately 2.3 million years ago created 2 billion smaller craters around the main impact crater, Corinto.

Compared to Earth, Mars has significantly more craters. As Science Alert explains, this is due to the different atmospheric conditions and tectonics on the Red Planet. However, recent studies indicate that not all craters on Mars originated from direct collisions with asteroids. Some of them are related to debris falling onto the planet after colliding with cosmic objects. This is exactly what happened with the 2 billion smaller craters recently discovered near the main impact crater, Corinto.

Corinto is a crater with a diameter of about 14 km, located in Elysium Planitia. This is a volcanic plain near the equator in the northern hemisphere of Mars, stretching for about 3,000 km. Scientists consider Corinto to be a relatively young crater, most likely formed around 2.34 million years ago. Moreover, they even believe it might be the newest crater of its size on Mars. Live Science recalls that, according to estimates, asteroids capable of leaving such a large mark hit the Red Planet on average every 3 million years.

Researchers claim: "Corinto is a fresh impact crater in Elysium Planitia, resulting in one of the most extensive systems of secondary craters on Mars." Scientists, to better understand its specifics, made use of data collected by the HiRISE instrument and CTX camera, mounted on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Thanks to them, they noticed that the object responsible for the creation of Corinto significantly affected the surrounding area of the crater.

The flying off smaller fragments created a huge number of smaller craters, visible to this day south and southwest of Corinto, forming a "radial system". Live Science points out that the farthest ejected fragment fell about 1,850 km from the main crater. In total, after the impact of the huge object, nearly 2 billion secondary craters of about 10 meters in diameter were formed. Scientists plan to continue investigating this region.