Ripples formed in low-pressure wind tunnels suggest Mars's large windblown ripples are not impact ripples.

ABSTRACT: Sand ripples record interactions between planetary surfaces and environmental flows, providing paleoenvironmental archives when preserved into rocks. Two main ripple types form in sand: drag ripples, common in water, and impact ripples, exclusive to windblown surfaces. Enigmatic meter-scale aeolian ripples on Mars have been assumed to be impact ripples, though ground and orbiter-based observations suggest they may be drag ripples instead. Here, we report on low-pressure wind tunnel experiments in which large ripples formed and evolved from a flat bed. Observations demonstrate that impact and large ripples grow from distinct mechanisms. Large-ripple size aligns with predictions from drag-ripple theory, and associated sand fluxes are greater than predicted for impact ripples. These findings

SUBMITTER: Alvarez CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11947197 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature