Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Planetary science

Slippery sliding on icy Iapetus

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 524–525 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Enigmatically, some landslides flow farther than normal frictional resistance allows. Cassini images of Saturn's icy moon Iapetus reveal a multitude of long-runout landslides that may have been enabled by flash heating along the sliding surface.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Images from the Cassini ISS probe reveal numerous landslides across the surface of Iapetus.

© NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

References

  1. Hungr, O. & Evans, S. G. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 116, 1240–1252, (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. De Blasio, F. V. Planet. Space Sci. 59, 1384–1392 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Goren, L. & Aharonov, E. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L07301 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rice, R. J. J. Geophys. Res. 111, B05311 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Collins, G. S. & Melosh, H. J. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2473 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Legros, F. Eng. Geol. 63, 301–331 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chuang, F. C. & Greeley, R. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 20227–20244 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Malin, C. M. J. Geophys. Res. 97, 16337–16352, (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Singer, K. N., McKinnon, W. B., Schenk, P. M. & Moore, J. M. Nature Geosci. 5, 574–578 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Heim, A. Z. Dtsch. Geol. Ges. 34, 74–115 (1882).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Beeman, M., Durham, W. B. & Kirby, S. H. J. Geophys. Res. 93, 7625–7633 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Vardoulakis, I. Mech. Coh. Frict. Mat. 5, 443–467 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lajeunesse, E., Quantin, C., Allemand, P. & Delacourt C. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L04403 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lucas, A. & Mangeney A. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L10201 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lucas, A., Mangeney, A., Mège, D. & Bouchut, F. J. Geophys. Res. 116, E10001 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Antoine Lucas is at the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA,

    Antoine Lucas

Authors
  1. Antoine Lucas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antoine Lucas.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lucas, A. Slippery sliding on icy Iapetus. Nature Geosci 5, 524–525 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1532

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1532

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing