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Mars Once Had 165-Foot Tsunamis, Evidence Suggests. Wow.

When meteors like these crash into a planet, there's not a lot that can be done except watch the fireworks. 

There is a NASA-funded scientific study just completed that has an interesting finding — two meteors hit at least one of the oceans on Mars a few million years apart, and each created massive tsunamis that heaved water and then tons of rocks and ice onto the land masses surrounding those oceans. If there happened to be life on those land masses at the time … well, let’s just say that same life would have fared far worse than the tsunami that hit the coasts of the Indian Ocean in 2004. You see, these tsunamis would have bee 165 feet (50 meters) tall, or almost twice those.


It happened billions of years ago, and they’re still uncovering the facts on what might have occurred, but this study is tantalizing. 

I wonder if it’s inevitable on any planet that has water; that is, meteors will inevitably disrupt the life and other cycles on pretty much every planet in much the same way, by smacking planets upside the head.

This 1-minute video gets more into what scientists are finding, if you want to take a look. Also, this excellent article on New Scientist is what made me start doing some digging. 


Thumbnail image Creative Commons licensed via Pixabay.


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