Wind erosion on Mars and other small terrestrial planets

Abstract

We carried out wind tunnel experiments on parabolic flights with 100 $\mu$m Mojave Mars simulant sand. The experiments result in shear stress thresholds and erosion rates for varying g-levels at 600 Pa pressure. Our data confirm former results on JSC Mars 1A simulant where the threshold shear stress is lower under Martian gravity than extrapolated from earlier ground-based studies which fits observations of Martian sand activity. The data are consistent with a model by Shao and Lu (2000) and can also be applied to other small terrestrial (exo)-planets with low pressure atmospheres.

References in corpus (2)

• Difference in the wind speeds required for initiation versus continuation of sand transport on Mars: Implications for dunes and dust storms
• Saltation under Martian Gravity and its Influence on the Global Dust Distribution

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Understanding planet formation using microgravity experiments
• Releasing Atmospheric Martian Dust in Sand Grain Impacts
• Lifting of Tribocharged Grains by Martian Winds
• Forbidden planetesimals
• Destruction of eccentric planetesimals by ram pressure and erosion