An estimate of the impact rate on Mars from statistics of very-high-frequency marsquakes

Abstract The number density of impact craters on a planetary surface is used to determine its age, which requires a model for the production rate of craters of different sizes. On Mars, however, estimates of the production rate of small craters (8 m diameter are formed globally per year, consistent with previously published chronology model rates and above the rates derived from freshly imaged craters. Our work shows that seismology is an effective tool for determining meteoroid impact rates and complements other methods such as orbital imaging.