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.

Planetary science

A mega-landslide on Mars

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 248–249 (2009)Cite this article

The vast Thaumasia plateau on Mars is fringed by extensive zones of deformation. Topographic and structural analysis suggests that the plateau may have slipped in a massive landslide, deforming its margins in the process.

Valles Marineris and Claritas Fossae are usually considered to be two very different manifestations of extensional tectonism, and the Thaumasia Highlands may have formed by compressional buckling7. However, the mechanisms behind the origin of these three features and their relationships to each other are not entirely clear.

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

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

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

Figure 1: Thaumasia's secrets.

References

  1. Carr, M. H. J. Geophys. Res. 79, 3943–3949 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Phillips, R. J. et al. Science 291, 2587–2591 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Anderson, R. C. et al. J.Geophys. Res. 106, 20563–20586 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Banerdt, W. B. & Golombek, M. P. Lunar Planet. Sci. 31, abstr. 2038 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Andrews-Hanna, J. C., Hauck, S. A. & Zuber, M. T. J. Geophys. Res. 113, E08002 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Montgomery, D. R. et al. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 121, 117–133 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Schultz, R. A. & Tanaka, K. L. J. Geophys. Res. 99, 8371–8385 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Montgomery, D. R. & Gillespie, A. R. Geology 33, 625–628 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Malin, M. C. & Edgett, K. S. Science 290, 1927–1937 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Okubo, C. H. & Schultz, R. A. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 116, 594–605 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna is in the Department of Geophysics, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois Street, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA. jcahanna@mines.edu,

    Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna

Authors
  1. Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Andrews-Hanna, J. A mega-landslide on Mars. Nature Geosci 2, 248–249 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo483

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo483

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