New measurements of impact craters on Mercury’s smooth plains suggest that the topography of the solar system’s innermost planet is changing at twice the rate of landforms on the Moon.
erosion & weathering
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Cosmic Muons Reveal the Land Hidden Under Ice
Scientists accurately map the shape of the bedrock beneath a glacier using a new technique.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Mountain Range's History Preserved in Ocean Sediments
Fission track dating core samples from the Gulf of Alaska demonstrates that offshore sediments can be used to reconstruct a mountain range's changing exhumation patterns.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Oil Residues Accelerate Coastal Wetland Losses
Coastal wetland loss after an oil spill can be more extensive than after a hurricane.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Unprecedented Views of Mercury Constrain Hollow Formation
The consistently shallow depths of the depressions scattered across Mercury's surface suggest their morphology is not determined by the thickness of a volatile-rich outer layer.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Do Gullies Form on Mars?
New orbiter data support an important role for seasonal frost—not liquid water—in the formation of Martian gullies.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Minerals Hint at Liquid Groundwater, More Oxygen in Mars's Past
Manganese deposits in Gale Crater fractures are similar to Earth features that usually require flowing water and highly oxidizing conditions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Reconstructing Catastrophic Floods on Earth and Mars
A new theoretical model suggests that ancient floods that carved canyons on Earth and Mars may have been much smaller but lasted longer than previously thought.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Cluster of Water Seeps on Mars?
The discovery of dense concentrations of recurring flowlike features in two Valles Marineris chasms could aid in the search for life and influence future exploration of the Red Planet.
Posted inFeatures
Global Risks and Research Priorities for Coastal Subsidence
Some of the world's largest cities are sinking faster than the oceans are rising. Humans are part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution through monitoring and modeling.