Icy Cliffs on Mars are Stressed Out and Falling Apart
When
3:45 – 4:45 p.m., April 15, 2025
Where
Kuiper 308 and Zoom
Dr. Shane Byrne
Professor
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
University of Arizona
Steep cliffs of ice with 100s of meters of relief are common at the boundaries of the martian north polar cap, and HiRISE sees an extraordinary amount of activity there with blockfalls and avalanches being common. Thanks to their topography and location, these cliffs can experience intense heating and thermoelastic stresses with Spring being an especially stressful period. I’ll describe the link between how stressed the cliffs are and their tendency to fall apart as well as how Yosemite Valley offers a surprising analog to what’s happening at this location.
General
LPL Colloquium
Outreach
Graduate
Undergraduate