Ages of very large impact basins on Mars: Implications for the late heavy bombardment in the inner solar system

Abstract

A sharp peak in both relative crater retention ages and inferred model absolute ages for the largest impact basins on Mars may be a Martian equivalent of a late heavy bombardment (LHB) terminal lunar cataclysm (TLC). If so, it supports a NICE-type LHB, provides an important temporal connection between lunar and Martian chronologies, and suggests the current Martian chronology overestimates the age of large basins and perhaps other events in early Martian history. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.