Abstract:
All planetary surfaces have been exposed to impact bombardment, which alters their crusts through stratigraphic changes and heating, material deposition and redistribution. Impact craters exhibit distinct geological, geophysical, and remote sensing signatures, depending on the impact conditions and the target material in which they form. Therefore, high-fidelity numerical modelling of crater formation mechanics, compared with a geological crater record, can inform the structure and evolution of the crust in which craters formed, across all geological epochs. The primary focus is on Mars, with lessons learned from lunar research and comparative planetology. We investigate Mars's early geological evolution through large impacts (impact basins) that formed within the first billion years following Mars’s formation, building on the most recent understanding of the Martian interior following the NASA InSight mission. Then, through hydrothermal signatures in complex impact craters that formed in later geological epochs and contemporary simple ice-exposing impact craters, we can study the complex history of water, ice, and climate on Mars. This provides a deeper understanding of Mars's interior structure, planetary evolution, and its history of habitability.