Space
Boulders On Martian Landslide, NASA Captures Image
Rosanna Singh
First Posted: Dec 30, 2015 03:16 PM EST
Researchers have captured the image of what appears to be boulders on a Martian landslide. The image was captured using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, where it depicted a boulder covered landslide besides a canyon wall, according to a news release.
Landslides take place when steep slopes collapse, which results in a mass of solid and rock to drift downhill, leaving a scarp at the top of the slope. The bulk of the material eventually settles when it reaches shallower slopes, which forms a lobe of material that has a well-defined edge, known as a toe.
The latest Martian landslide is fairly fresh and many individual boulders are above the main deposit according the report. A number of small impact craters are visible from in the landslide lobe, where they are small in size and very few in numbers compared to those on the surrounding valley floor. The scrap seems quite fresh compared to the remaining cliff, which has boulders with more varied features instead of just a dusty terrain.
North of the landslide scarp is a similar shaped scar on the cliffside, but there is no landslide material on the valley floor beneath it. It is likely that older landslide deposit has been removed or buried, which identifies the young age of the bouldery landslide.
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TagsNASA, Solar System, space, Mars, Martian, Martian Soil, Asteroid, Astronomers, astronomical observations, astronomy, Stars ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Dec 30, 2015 03:16 PM EST
Researchers have captured the image of what appears to be boulders on a Martian landslide. The image was captured using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, where it depicted a boulder covered landslide besides a canyon wall, according to a news release.
Landslides take place when steep slopes collapse, which results in a mass of solid and rock to drift downhill, leaving a scarp at the top of the slope. The bulk of the material eventually settles when it reaches shallower slopes, which forms a lobe of material that has a well-defined edge, known as a toe.
The latest Martian landslide is fairly fresh and many individual boulders are above the main deposit according the report. A number of small impact craters are visible from in the landslide lobe, where they are small in size and very few in numbers compared to those on the surrounding valley floor. The scrap seems quite fresh compared to the remaining cliff, which has boulders with more varied features instead of just a dusty terrain.
North of the landslide scarp is a similar shaped scar on the cliffside, but there is no landslide material on the valley floor beneath it. It is likely that older landslide deposit has been removed or buried, which identifies the young age of the bouldery landslide.
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For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone