Professor of Mathematics

Paata Ivanisvili

pivanisv@uci.edu · x.com/PI010101

Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine

Paata Ivanisvili

← Possible new impact sites on Mars

Candidate 13: Arabia Terra, north-west of Schroeter crater

Promising · roughly 60%

Two CTX close-ups of the same 600 by 600 m of plains north-west of Schroeter crater, from March 2014 and July 2025. A sharp, very dark dot near the arrow is present only in 2025.
The same 600 × 600 m in March 2014 and July 2025, under the same sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

What changed. A sharp, very dark dot 30 to 35 m across appeared on these plains some time between 2014 and 2025.

Why it may be a new impact. The two earlier images were taken under similar light and show a fainter, older dark feature nearby, so they would have shown the dot.

Location
7.364° N, 51.099° E
Absent
2 April 2012 and 20 March 2014
Present
15 July 2025
Size
Sharp, very dark dot 30 to 35 m across
Confidence
Promising; roughly 60% that it is a new impact.
Caveat
Only one image shows it so far. It lies outside every footprint of the high-resolution HiRISE camera. Like every candidate here, it is unconfirmed: see the caveat.
Three CTX images of the same 2 by 2 km patch: the two from 2012 and 2014 show nothing at the arrow, and the one from July 2025 shows a dark dot.
All three CTX images of the same 2 × 2 km patch. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
A 12 by 12 km CTX view from July 2025 of Arabia Terra, with a dashed box around the 2 by 2 km patch and an arrow at the spot.
A 12 × 12 km view. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

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