Spacing rocks on Mars

[james_davis_nicoll]

How is it that rocks on Mars' surface are spaced evenly?

Comments

[murphys-lawyer.livejournal.com]

As always, XKCD has the answer.

[zxhrue.livejournal.com]

always a good choice. xkcd ftw.

[timill]

It's the Japanese making a really big garden.

[abidemi.livejournal.com]

Aliens?

Damnit, why is the answer never aliens?

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

I was going to say it was OCD that did the Martians in.

[oh6.livejournal.com]

I was going to guess frost heaving, but then I remembered that it doesn't get above freezing very often on Mars.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

Although Emily Lakdawalla does not actually cite the authors (except for one) etc on that "press release" you can find the full release reproduced here and the article, "Wind-Driven Reorganization of Coarse Clasts on the Surface of Mars," is in the Jan. 2009 Geology.

Pelletier is quoted as saying that wind-driven rock migration occurs on Earth, but doesn't say where. I suppose the central Australian desert would be a good place to look, and possibly the high arid South American plains.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

I had been thinking Mid East or Saharan Africa but I like your options as well.

[lostwanderfound.livejournal.com]

About this time last year I was out in a spot that would suit perfectly.

It's called "The Breakaways", just east of Coober Pedy. It's absolutely gorgeous (pure white sandstone mesas, stained by a huge variety of oxides; there's a particular bit appropriately known as "the painted desert") and one of the most easy-to-get-killed-in bits of countryside you could ever hope to find.

There are vast patches out there (hundreds of kilometres wide) that are nothing but walnut-to-fist sized stones; gets pretty windy at times, too. In the fiercest parts, there's no vegetable life at all, so there aren't any root systems holding the stones down. The pebbles get hot enough in the sun to sterilise even dormant desert-adapted seeds; pick 'em up without a thick glove and you'll be in serious need of the first aid kit before you can yelp and open your hand.

It's where they filmed most of the dodgy Mars-based SF films that have been released in the last decade (as well as a significant chunk of Priscilla...). Funky place.