The Martian surface is heavily cratered
Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy
When a single small meteorite struck Mars a few million years ago, it didn’t just create one crater. It ultimately created billions of them. The main crater, called Corinto, is just under 14 kilometres across, but the debris from that meteorite collision formed about two billion additional craters, called secondaries.
When a meteorite slams into the ground, it can blast a huge plume of rocks into the air. When these rocks fall back down, they create their own smaller craters, often in chains and…