Consistent asteroid showers rock previous thinking on Mars craters


Date:
January 21, 2022
Source:
Curtin University
Summary:
New research has confirmed the frequency of asteroid collisions
that formed impact craters on Mars has been consistent over the
past 600 million years.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New Curtin University research has confirmed the frequency of asteroid collisions that formed impact craters on Mars has been consistent over
the past 600 million years.


==========================================================================
The study, published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, analysed
the formation of more than 500 large Martian craters using a crater
detection algorithm previously developed at Curtin, which automatically
counts the visible impact craters from a high-resolution image.

Despite previous studies suggesting spikes in the frequency of asteroid collisions, lead researcher Dr Anthony Lagain, from Curtin's School of
Earth and Planetary Sciences, said his research had found they did not
vary much at all for many millions of years.

Dr Lagain said counting impact craters on a planetary surface was the
only way to accurately date geological events, such as canyons, rivers and volcanoes, and to predict when, and how big, future collisions would be.

"On Earth, the erosion of plate tectonics erases the history of our
planet.

Studying planetary bodies of our Solar System that still conserve their
early geological history, such as Mars, helps us to understand the
evolution of our planet," Dr Lagain said.

"The crater detection algorithm provides us with a thorough understanding
of the formation of impact craters including their size and quantity,
and the timing and frequency of the asteroid collisions that made them."
Past studies had suggested that there was a spike in the timing and
frequency of asteroid collisions due to the production of debris, Dr
Lagain said.

"When big bodies smash into each other, they break into pieces or debris,
which is thought to have an effect on the creation of impact craters,"
Dr Lagain said.

"Our study shows it is unlikely that debris resulted in any changes to the formation of impact craters on planetary surfaces." Co-author and leader
of the team that created the algorithm, Professor Gretchen Benedix, said
the algorithm could also be adapted to work on other planetary surfaces, including the Moon.

"The formation of thousands of lunar craters can now be dated
automatically, and their formation frequency analysed at a higher
resolution to investigate their evolution," Professor Benedix said.

"This will provide us with valuable information that could have future practical applications in nature preservation and agriculture,
such as the detection of bushfires and classifying land use." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Curtin_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anthony Lagain, Mikhail Kreslavsky, David Baratoux, Yebo Liu,
Hadrien
Devillepoix, Philip Bland, Gretchen K. Benedix, Luc S. Doucet,
Konstantinos Servis. Has the impact flux of small and large
asteroids varied through time on Mars, the Earth and the
Moon? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2022; 579: 117362 DOI:
10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117362 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220121094317.htm

--- up 6 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)