Geometrical properties of landslides on Earth and Mars

On Earth, landslides occur in various morphological and climatic settings and can strongly affect the evolution of a landscape. On Mars, slope failures have been also observed since decades (e.g., [1], [2]), especially in the large canyons of Valles Marineris. In the perspective of a novel interest in the human settlement on the red planet it is important to explore the local environmental conditions and the possible hazards. For the purpose, we analyzed the geometrical features of landslides on Earth and Mars and compared the relationships between their geometrical parameters (i.e. landslide volumes, areas, drop heights and runout distances). Data for this study were collected using landslide catalogues available from several authors [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. In particular, we selected rock and debris slides, rock avalanches on Earth and Mars and terrestrial submarine landslides. Having insights on the geometrical properties of the landslides on the two planets might provide tools for the understanding of the sliding mechanisms in different environments.