Post-Impact Hydrothermal Activity in Meteorite Impact Craters and Potential Opportunities for Life

Abstract

Impact craters are prominent landforms on all objects with a solid surface in the solar system. The formation of an impact structure is a high-energy, high-temperature transient event which introduces large amounts of energy into a limited area. This energy can, in part, be expanded on the creation and activation of a hydrothermal system within and even outside of the crater. Depending on the crater size and geology of the target region, this hydrothermal system may persist for extended periods of time. Such impact-induced hydrothermal systems could well have provided conditions supportive of the development of life on the early Earth and it is not unreasonable to assume that similar conditions could have led to life-favoring circumstances on other planets and satellites.