Structural Characterization of Rings in Multi-Ring Basins on Mars

Kurzfassung

Mars has over 100 impact basins larger than ~150 km in diameter [?]. These structures are records of the largest impacts formed during the planet’s early evolution between 4.4 and 3.2 Ga [?, 9, 10]. In particular, their shape and size reflect the planet’s thermal state and interior structure at the time of their formation [6, 9, 10]. Thanks to the refined understanding of Mars’ interior structure and thermal evolution derived from the NASA InSight mission seismic data [e.g., A, B], we can now use Mars’ impact basins to better constrain the planet’s properties at the time of bombardment. Furthermore, by investigating individual impacts in time, we can reconstruct Mars’ thermal and interior structure evolution as recorded by its impact basins. Here, we used numerical simulations of large impacts to understand better and characterise ring formation in Mars’ impact basins, building on our recent work on scaling relationships [6]. We characterised and classified faults and identified which rings are associated with them. We also measured relative ring spacing and compared it to what is observed on the Moon.