Wind erosion on Mars and other small terrestrial planets

TL;DR

This study uses wind tunnel experiments on Mars simulant sand under different gravity levels to measure shear stress thresholds and erosion rates, confirming previous findings and supporting models for Martian and small planetary environments.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on wind erosion thresholds at varying gravity levels, validating models and extending applicability to other small terrestrial planets.

Findings

Lower shear stress thresholds under Martian gravity.

Data consistent with Shao and Lu (2000) model.

Applicable to other low-pressure planetary atmospheres.

Abstract

We carried out wind tunnel experiments on parabolic flights with 100 $\mu$m Mojave Mars simulant sand. The experiments result in shear stress thresholds and erosion rates for varying g-levels at 600 Pa pressure. Our data confirm former results on JSC Mars 1A simulant where the threshold shear stress is lower under Martian gravity than extrapolated from earlier ground-based studies which fits observations of Martian sand activity. The data are consistent with a model by Shao and Lu (2000) and can also be applied to other small terrestrial (exo)-planets with low pressure atmospheres.