Dynamical effects of multiple impacts: Large impacts on a Mars-like planet

Abstract

The earliest stage of the evolution of a fully assembled planet is profoundly affected by a number of basin-forming impacts large enough to change the dynamics of its deeper interior. These impacts are in some cases quite closely spaced and follow one another in short time intervals, so that their effects interact and result in behavior that may differ from a simple sum of the effects of two individual and isolated impacts. We use two-dimensional models of mantle convection in a Mars-like planet and a simple parameterized representation of the principal effects of impacts to study some of the dynamical effects and interactions of multiple large impacts. In models of only two impacts, we confirm that the dynamical effects of the impacts reinforce each other the closer they are in space and time but that the effects do not always correspond to straightforward superpositions of those of single, isolated impacts. In models with multiple (4–8) impacts with variable sizes, distances, and frequencies, the global response of the mantle is as variable as the impact sequences in the short term, but in the long term the different evolutionary paths converge for several indicator variables such as the mean flow velocity, temperature, or heat flow. Nonetheless, beyond a certain impact frequency and energy, lithospheric instabilities triggered by large impacts occur on a global scale, reinvigorate mantle dynamics for long time spans, and entail a late stage of melt production in addition to the initial melting stage that is not observed in one- or two-impact models. After one or several very large impacts, some lithospheric material may founder and sink to the core–mantle boundary, and if enough of it accumulates there, it enhances the heat flux out of the core for several hundred millions of years, with possible effects on dynamo activity.