An ongoing satellite–ring cycle of Mars and the origins of Phobos and Deimos

Abstract

The Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may have accreted from a ring of impact debris, but explaining their origin from a single giant impact has proven difficult. One clue may lie in the orbit of Phobos that is slowly decaying as the satellite undergoes tidal interactions with Mars. In about 70 million years, Phobos is predicted to reach the location of tidal breakup and break apart to form a new ring around the planet. Here we use numerical simulations to suggest that the resulting ring will viscously spread to eventually deposit about 80% of debris onto Mars; the remaining 20% of debris will accrete into a new generation of satellites. Furthermore, we propose that this process has occurred repeatedly throughout Martian history. In our simulations, beginning with a large satellite formed after a giant impact with early Mars, we find that between three and seven ring–satellite cycles over the past 4.3 billion years can explain Phobos and Deimos as they are observed today. Such a scenario implies the deposition of significant ring material onto Mars during each cycle. We hypothesize that some anomalous sedimentary deposits observed on Mars may be linked to these periodic episodes of ring deposition. The moon Phobos is spiralling inwards towards its disintegration to eventually form a ring around Mars from which new moons may form. Simulations suggest that this is just the latest of multiple ring–moon cycles over the history of Mars.