Nature Communications (Oct 2019)

Longitudinal ridges imparted by high-speed granular flow mechanisms in martian landslides

  • Giulia Magnarini,
  • Thomas M. Mitchell,
  • Peter M. Grindrod,
  • Liran Goren,
  • Harrison H. Schmitt

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12734-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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The occurrence of longitudinal ridges on large landslide masses on planetary bodies is enabled by long runout distances, which have so far been attributed to the presence of ice. The authors here present a challenging model based on mechanical instabilities within the flow, suggesting that ice is not needed.