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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 1–4Cite as

Triangular Scar (Mars)

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Definition

Specific shallow (meter to ten meters deep) flat-floored depression on dust-covered steep slopes on Mars; a triangular scar has a triangular planform with a sharp upslope apex and extends hundreds of meters to over a kilometer downslope.

Synonyms

Meters-thick avalanche scar

Description

Triangular scars are outlined by pairs of perfectly linear scarps of a remarkably constant height of about 1–10 m; the scarps form a sharp apex when they join upslope (Figs. 1 and 2). Many triangular scarps have specific mounds at their downslope termination (Fig. 1; Gerstell et al. 2004; Phillips et al. 2007), but many do not. The small-scale texture of the triangular scarp floor often differs from surrounding surface texture (Chuang et al. 2010).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Triangular scars in Lycus Sulci, the Olympus Mons aureole deposit. Downslope direction is toward the bottom. HiRISE/MRO image ESP_032301_2115 at 31.208°N 216.282°E (NASA/JPL/UA)

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References

  • Chuang FC, Beyer RA, McEwen AS, Thomson BJ (2007) HiRISE observations of slope streaks on Mars. Geophys Res Lett 34, L20204. doi:10.1029/2007GL031111

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  • Chuang FC, Beyer RA, Bridges NT (2010) Modification of Martian slope streaks by Eolian processes. Icarus 205:154–164

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  • Gerstell MF, Aharonson O, Schorghofer N (2004) A distinct class of avalanche scars on Mars. Icarus 168:122–130

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  • Kreslavsky MA, Head JW (2009) Slope streaks on Mars: a new “wet” mechanism. Icarus 201:517–527

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  • Phillips CB, Burr DM, Beyer RA (2007) Mass movement within a slope streak on Mars. Geophys Res Lett 34:21202

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Mikhail A. Kreslavsky

  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Norbert Schörghofer

  3. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

Authors
  1. Mikhail A. Kreslavsky
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  2. Norbert Schörghofer
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  3. Ákos Kereszturi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mikhail A. Kreslavsky .

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Kreslavsky, M.A., Schörghofer, N., Kereszturi, Á. (2014). Triangular Scar (Mars). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_594-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_594-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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