The first event likely occurred around 3.4 billion years ago, and the second likely emerged around 3 billion years ago as Mars' oceans began to dry up, according to NASA. .
The massive impact structure is also surrounded by 3.4 billion-year-old rocks.
This gargantuan impact structure has some key similarities with the Chicxulub crate, which was left by an asteroid impact that triggered a mass extinction event around 66 million years ago and wiped out the nonavian dinosaurs, the researchers wrote.The Chicxulub crater, located on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, is significantly larger than Pohl, spanning around 112 miles (180 km), and was birthed by a larger asteroid that was around 7.5 miles (12 km) across.The Chicxulub asteroid also landed on top of an ancient ocean on Earth that was around 656 feet (200 m) deep at the time.
—Mysterious mineral on Mars was spat out by an explosive eruption 3 billion years ago .