Landslides
Landslides are common on Earth
and have a distinctive look.
However, a variety of landslides
have been seen on both rocky
and icy surfaces and in low and
higher gravity situations around
the Solar System. These images
show recognizable landslides
on the Moon, Saturn’s satellite
Iapetus, Mars, the asteroid Vesta
and Saturn’s satellite Hyperion.
With ongoing monitoring, we have
seen landslides in action, such as
the one on Mars that is captured
in the third image on the top row.
The image below that shows an
unusual landslide created by an
impact crater on Mars. The far
image of Hyperion, which has an
unusual shape and a tumbling
rotation shows a regional collapse
that preserved the surface features
inside the collapse zone.
Earth
26
Iapetus
Moon
COURTESY OF NASA
COURTESY OF US Geological Survey
Mars
Vesta
COURTESY OF NASA
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Mars
Iapetus
COURTESY OF NASA
COURTESY OF NASA
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Eruption
plumes
Eruption plumes are seen on a
variety of objects in the Solar
System, although the specific
process causing the eruption
plume may not always be
understood. Some of the examples
pictured here include: eruption
plumes entering the vacuum of
space from “jets” on Saturn’s
Enceladus (salt wate r) and on
Comet Hartley 2 (gas with dust)
and Jupiter’s Io (sulfur). On
Earth, geysers eject liquid water
into a thick atmosphere. Triton’s
plumes have colored the surface,
apparently directed by the wind
in a very thin atmosphere. The
mechanisms that lead to the
eruptions are not well understood
except on Earth and Io. The results
of searches for plumes above
Jupiter’s Europa are disputed by
planetary scientists.
Mars
Earth
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
COURTESY OF NASA/NOAA
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD
COURTESY OF NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Triton
Enceladus
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL/USGS.
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Sky’s
Up
COURTESY OF NASA/JPL/SSI/Gordan Ugarkovic
Precipitation
cycles
Jupiter’s
Europa
and Io
Comet Hartley 2
COURTESY OF US Geological Survey
Hyperion
Sky’s
Up
It is natural to wonder where
the liquid comes from on other
planets. In the case of Mars,
the bulk of water that came
during its formation is now
gone, or at least well hidden.
Precipitation cycle refers to the
transfer
of a liquid
between
various
sources
and “sinks”
on a planet
or satellite.
Earth has
a water
cycle while
Titan has
a methane
cycle.
COURTESY OF
U.S. Geological
Survey
27