Variations in grain size and water ice content detected on Saturn’s largest moon offer evidence of geologically related units that resemble the mountain-to-desert transition on Earth.
erosion & weathering
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Carbon Release from Permafrost Erosion Along the Yukon Coast
New findings highlight the need to account for large amounts of ground ice contained in frozen soil when assessing Arctic carbon cycling.
Posted inScience Updates
Planetary Dune Workshop Expands to Include Subaqueous Processes
The Fifth International Planetary Dunes Workshop: From the Bottom of the Oceans to the Outer Limits of the Solar System; St. George, Utah, 16–19 May 2017
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Space Weathering Asymmetrically Alters Lunar Crater Walls
Directional differences in craters’ optical properties suggest that the solar wind, not tiny meteorites, is the main driver of space weathering on the Moon.
Posted inEditors' Vox
A Rover’s Eye View of Moving Martian Dunes
A new special issue of JGR: Planets presents findings on sand motion, morphology, and mineralogy from the Curiosity rover’s traverse of the active Bagnold dune field in Gale crater.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Run-Ups of Unusual Size
Not all waves are created equal when it comes to eroding sandy shorelines. Here’s a look at the physics that drives the big ones.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Comparing Craters
An analysis suggests that craters degrade faster on Mercury than the Moon, raising questions about landscape evolution on different planetary bodies.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Stories in the Soil
A series of field experiments in the U.S. Midwest is investigating how past, present, and future human activities and climate affect the health of soil.
Posted inNews
Clues Found That Earth May Have a Thermostat Set to “Habitable”
Weathering of rocks can control Earth’s temperature over geologic timescales, new geochemical data suggest.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Peering into the Cracks
A recent article in Reviews of Geophysics combined mathematical modeling, fracture mechanics theory and engineering research data to provide new insights into a critical geological process.