Massive Asteroid Triggered Ancient Martian Mega-Tsunami

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports has pinpointed the location of an impact crater where a massive asteroid crashed into Mars triggering an 800-foot-tall tsunami. Researchers think the Red Planet was once covered by vast oceans from approximately 3.5 to 3 billion years ago. According to planetary scientists who worked on the study, a newly-discovered impact crater named Pohl is the likely site of an asteroid strike that set off at least one of multiple mega-tsunamis which blasted the ancient Martian surface. The asteroid is estimated to have been up to 5.6 miles across, and generated a force equivalent to 13 million megatons of TNT energy.