After the passage of the asteroid 2012-DA14 near the Earth, Mars could know the same think, but with a comet, called C/2013 A1.
It's Robert H. McNaught, australian astronomer at Siding Spring Observatory, who has discovered this comet on January 3rd 2013. Just after this discover, the first calculations showed that C/2013 A1 would be near of Mars at more than 100,000 km.
But the last estimates showed a distance of 37,000 km, with a 190,000 km/h speed (according to the Daily Mail) and a diameter between 15 and 50 km. The date announced for this passage near Mars is October 19th 2014. Further, the comet will be near of the sun one week later (October 25th).
If C/2013 A1 crash on Mars, a crater of more than 500 km in diameter could be form and create a great cataclysm. Astronomers must wait march 2014 to have more accurate data about the comet, and check if, yes or no, the comet will crash on the red planet. It will be the duty of Curiosity and Opportunity rovers, with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to give us next year more info about the comet.
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If it did impact Mars, and all the water vapor recondensed on the surface of Mars, what would the resulting oceans be like?
On the Earth the total water volumn would create a sphere 860 miles in diameter, or basically the driving distance across Texas, represented by a sphere. The average depth of the worlds oceans are 2.68 miles, or 14,150 feet deep, here on the Earth. Now Mars is roughly 1/2 the size of the Earth, so to have similar oceans the water sphere would be approximately 420 miles in size, with similar ocean depth of 2.68 miles. If the depth was reduced, or half the diameter and depth, we have a sphere of water that is 200 miles diameter and a oceanic depth of 1.34.
Further reduction of the sphere, 100 miles diameter and 3960 deep. A sphere, 50 miles in diameter, would create an ocean 1980 feet deep. And the scientific community indicates that the comet is approximately 50 km in size or basically 25 to 30 miles sphere. That would be enough water to flood the northern plains at a depth of between 700 and 990 feet deep.
If part of the water vapor were to remain suspended in the atmosphere, or the hydrological cycle, an northern hemisphere ocean of 500 feet could exist as clouds drift over the landscape and rain in other areas of the planet.
Ref: Andropedia
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