Layered and massive outcrops on Mars, some as thick as 4 km, display the geomorphic attributes and stratigraphic relations of sedimentary rock. Sequences in some locations imply a dynamic depositional environment during early martian history. Subaerial (such as aeolian, impact, and volcani-clastic) and subaqueous processes may have contributed to the formation of the layers. Affinity for impact...

Waves generated by aerial and subaerial landslides are studied experimentally, theoretically and numerically. A set of experiments are done in a wave tank of 18 m long, 0.65 m wide and 1.5 m deep. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experiments. Based on numerical and experimental results, we derive different scaling laws which show a good agreement with the experiments and the...

We analyzed botanical, geologic, and climatic data in an effort to understand why there are many more serpentine endemics—i.e., plant species restricted to ultramafic substrates—in some regions of California than in others. We found that, in addition to elevational range (which subsumed the effect of serpentine area) and annual rainfall, the age of exposure of serpentine explained significant g...

Glasses from Mauna Loa pillow basalts, recent subaerial vents, and inclusions in olivine were analyzed for S, Cl, F, and major elements by electron microprobe. Select submarine glasses were also analyzed for H2O and CO2 by infrared spectroscopy. The compositional variation of these tholeiitic glasses is dominantly controlled by crystal fractionation and they indicate quenching temperatures of 1...