Giant ice avalanches on Saturn's moon Iapetus provide clue to extreme slippage elsewhere in solar system
Sunday, July 29, 2012 - 12:01
in Astronomy & Space
Saturn's ice moon Iapetus has more giant landslides than any solar system body other than Mars. Measurements of the avalanches suggest that some mechanism lowered their coefficients of friction so that they flowed rather than tumbled, traveling extraordinary distances before coming to rest. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, who have been studying the ice avalanches suggest a experimental test that might provide some answers.