Landslide in Xanthe Terra

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Posted on: Sunday, 4 May 2008, 14:03 CDT Download full size image

This image shows a landslide along the margin of a small mesa in the Xanthe Terra region of Mars.

This particular landslide has many blocks and boulders on the surface. It is likely these large pieces of the mesa wall rock rafted downslope when the landslide occurred and not jumbled and pulverized into smaller sizes. This observation gives some insight into the possible physics involved in downslope transport of rock materials.

Landslides and other mass wasting features are also important in the overall study of Mars as they give some indication of the stability of rock materials.

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