Submitted by Stoghra t3_z72zob in explainlikeimfive
cavalier78 t1_iy4hhfl wrote
The Moon has no air. So that means if an asteroid hits it, it leaves a crater. Then there's nothing to get rid of that crater. It just stays and stays forever.
The Earth has air. And volcanoes. And plants. And water. So if an asteroid landed in the middle of Ohio ten thousand years ago, that's ten thousand years of rain and wind and stuff to get rid of the crater. It might still be there, but it'll look a lot more like a natural valley now. Floods and rivers and tornadoes will knock down some of the hard ridges, and trees and plants and things will gradually soften the landscape as well.
Plus the atmosphere acts like a shield, burning up most asteroids before they cause big impacts. So something that causes a big crater on the Moon will cause a really small crater on Earth, and something that causes a small crater on the Moon will never even hit ground on Earth.
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