Some landslides on Mars seem to defy an important law of physics. “Long, runout landslides” are formed by huge volumes of rock and soil moving downslope, largely due to the force of gravity. But their power is hard to account for. With volumes exceeding that of the Empire State Building, they move at high speeds of up to 360 kilometers per hour over flat surfaces for up to tens of kilometers. This seems to indicate that there is no or very little friction present. Friction is the fundamental physical force resisting the motion of one surface sliding relative to another. The…
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