---
title: "Ancient Meteor Strike Deluged Mars With Planet-Scale Tsunami"
description: "New evidence suggests that Mars may have had a liquid ocean on its surface, and that meteor impacts caused a planet-sized tsunami."
date: "2019-07-31"
modified: "2019-07-31"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ancient-meteor-mars-planet-tsunami"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Ancient Meteor Strike Deluged Mars With Planet-Scale Tsunami

![New evidence suggests that Mars may have had a liquid ocean on its surface, and that meteor impacts caused a planet-sized tsunamis.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ancient-meteor-mars-planet-tsunami.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser\</em\>*

## Wave Pool

A close look at a gigantic crater on Mars has some scientists convinced that the Red Planet used to have a massive ocean on its northern hemisphere — and that an asteroid impact created a planet-sized mega-tsunami.

Scientists have long debated whether liquid water ever flowed across the surface of Mars, but this new analysis lends weight to the argument that it was once home to a very wet ocean, [according to *The New York Times*](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/science/mars-tsunami-crater.html>), that was roughly as deep as the crater is wide.

## Big Splash

Some features of the crater can only be explained by the presence of a liquid ocean, [according to research](<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JE006008>) published last month in the journal *JGR Planets*. Nearby cliffs and other features on the now-dry surface of Mars look like they used to be coastlines and riverbeds that were shaped by massive waves.

It's too early to decide conclusively what Mars [used to look like](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-groundwater-system-planet-wide>) or whether it may have once supported life, but this new study is a fascinating push towards the affirmative.

**READ MORE:** [When a Mega-Tsunami Drowned Mars, This Spot May Have Been Ground Zero](<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/science/mars-tsunami-crater.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on Mars:** *[First Evidence Of "Planet-Wide Groundwater System" On Mars Found](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-groundwater-system-planet-wide>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)