The proposed mechanism has an Earth analogue: molten rock striking water or ice can turn it instantly into steam, producing powerful, fluidlike debris surges. NASA says several Broom Point layers resemble deposits that may have formed in fast flows close to the ground. The resemblance makes water or ice a possible participant in their formation; the terrestrial example is an analogy, not an observation of water on Mars. [S1]
The impact interpretation rests on a separate clue in the Broom Point rocks. NASA reports tiny, dark glassy beads in an abundance rarely produced by volcanoes, although volcanic activity can make similar droplets. Their abundance points to impacts as the primary builder of the layers, while repeated rock types through the sequence indicate that high-energy impacts occurred again and again. The debris-flow hypothesis concerns how some of that material could have moved into place. [S1]
Source documents
- NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reads Record of Ancient Mars Impactshttps://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasas-perseverance-rover-reads-record-of-ancient-mars-impacts/