Impact megadomes and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy

We show that a sufficiently energetic impact can generate a melt volume which, after isostatic adjustment and differentiation, forms a spherical cap of crust with underlying depleted mantle. Depending on impact energy and initial crustal thickness, a basin may be retained or impact induced crust may be topographically elevated. Retention of a martian lowland scale impact basin at impact energies ∼3 × 1028–3 × 1029 J requires an initial crustal thickness greater than 10 km. Formation of impact induced crust with size comparable to the martian highlands requires a larger impact energy, ∼1–3 × 1030 J, and initial crustal thickness <20 km. Furthermore, we show that the boundary of impact induced crust can be elliptical due to a spatially asymmetric impact melt volume caused by an oblique impact. We suggest the term “impact megadome” for topographically elevated, impact induced crust and propose that processes involved in megadome formation may play an important role in the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy.

► Giant impacts can produce thickened crust and depleted mantle.
► This generates a topographic high which we call an “impact megadome”.
► Megadome formation may be an alternative explanation for the martian crustal dichotomy.
► Megadome formation may occur during formation of other terrestrial planets.