Scientists identify impact crater in connection with ancient Martian tsunamis!

New Delhi: The Red Planet is full of surprises and scientists are leaving no stone unturned to discover its secrets. From the presence of water to the possibility of life, researchers are studying the planet from every angle, in every aspect.

The Red Planet has been under constant monitoring by numerous space agencies, in order to prepare for future missions to Mars.

Space agencies like ISRO and NASA have sent various probes to Mars, through which we have been treated to numerous images and discoveries found on the Martian surface, most of them being ground-breaking.

Now, scientists have made yet another discovery by identifying a crater on Mars, possibly created by an asteroid that triggered 150 metre-high tsunami waves when it plunged into an ocean on the Red Planet three billion years ago.

The researchers have identified what they think is the best candidate for the impact crater, a 120km-wide bowl called Lomonosov. The feature is extremely degraded today, with a collapsed crater rim.

Some scientists think an ocean might once have filled the vast lowland region that occupies the red planet's northerly latitudes.

Growing evidence that tsunami waves washed over the boundary between the southern highlands and northern lowlands help strengthen the hypothesis.

The proposed Martian tsunami travelled 150km inland, climbing to elevations of about 100 metres.

"If we do have this evidence of a tsunami having occurred back three billion years ago, there must have been an ocean present in the northern plains," Steve Clifford, from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in the US told 'BBC News'.

"That's the key point here, it indicates that there was a substantial amount of water in residence on the Martian surface at this time and that has likely implications for the total inventory of water on Mars," Clifford said.

The research has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets.

(With PTI inputs)