Mars is quite dusty. It periodically gets swallowed by planet-spanning dust storms, but it’s also home to regular dust devils whose size can put Earth’s to shame. Exactly how so Keep reading
Tag: sediment transport
Suspended Sediments in Lake Erie
Lake Erie’s Long Point is outlined in turquoise in this natural-color satellite image. The pale color is likely due to limestone sediments in the shallow waters getting resuspended by a Keep reading
Hudson Bay Watercolors
Rivers sweep fresh water and sediment into the Hudson Bay in this satellite image. Dark brown plumes mark the mouths of several coastal rivers as they add to the cyclonic Keep reading
Making a Miniature River
Despite wide differences in ecology and geology, rivers around the world share certain fundamental features. Physicists study these characteristics by creating small-scale rivers in the laboratory, like the experiment featured Keep reading
Sediment and Coral
As rivers wash sediment toward the sea, they carve elaborate deltas like that of the Rio Cauto in Cuba. Over time these sediments build up marshes, swamps, lagoons, and other Keep reading
Shedding Light on Martian Dust Storms
In 2018, Mars was enveloped by a global dust storm that lasted for months. Although such storms had been seen before, the 2018 storm offered an unprecedented opportunity for observation Keep reading
Renewing the Colorado River
The Glen Canyon Dam lies on the Colorado River, upstream of the Grand Canyon. Because the dam blocks sediment from upstream, the region’s only sediment sources are two tributary rivers Keep reading
Exploring Martian Mud Flows
When looking at Mars and other parts of our solar system, planetary scientists are faced with a critical question: if what I’m looking at is similar to something on Earth, Keep reading
Unifying Sediment Transport Theory
On windy days, streaks of snowflakes snake in the air above a mountaintop snowfield. And when snorkeling in the surf, you can watch the inbound waves sculpt underwater ripples in Keep reading
Colorful Erosion
Wind, water, and gravity are great sculptors of our world. This false-color satellite image shows the Ga’ara Depression in Iraq, which formed some 300 million years ago beneath a shallow Keep reading