A Martian megatsunami may have been caused by an asteroid collision similar to the Chicxulub impact—which contributed to the mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs on Earth 66 million years ago—in a shallow ocean region, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
Previous research has proposed that an asteroid or comet impact within an ocean in the Martian northern lowlands may have caused a megatsunami approximately 3.4 billion years ago. However, prior to this study the location of the resulting impact crater was unclear.
Alexis Rodriguez and colleagues analyzed maps of Mars’ surface, created by combining images from previous missions to the planet, and identified an impact crater that could have caused the megatsunami. The crater—which they have named Pohl—has a diameter of 110 kilometers and is located within an area of the northern lowlands that previous studies have suggested may have been covered by an ocean, in a region around 120 meters below its proposed sea level. The authors suggest that Pohl may have formed around 3.4 billion years ago based on its position above and below rocks previously dated to this time. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-mars-megatsunami-chicxulub-like-asteroid-impact.html
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