The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Alice Lucchetti; Luca Penasa; Maurizio Pajola; Matteo Massironi; Maria Teresa Brunetti; Gabriele Cremonese; Nilda Oklay; Jean Baptiste Vincent; Stefano Mottola; Sonia Fornasier; Holger Sierks; Giampiero Naletto; Philippe L. Lamy; Rafael Rodrigo; Detlef Koschny; Bjorn Davidsson; Cesare Barbieri; Maria Antonietta Barucci; Jean Loup Bertaux; Ivano Bertini; Dennis Bodewits; Pamela Cambianica; Vania Da Deppo; Stefano Debei; Mariolino De Cecco; Jacob Deller; Sabrina Ferrari; Francesca Ferri; Marco Franceschi; Marco Fulle; Pedro Gutiérrez; Carsten Güttler; Wing H. Ip; Uwe Keller; Luisa Lara; Monica Lazzarin; Jose Lopez Moreno; Francesco Marzari; Cecilia Tubiana

doi:10.1029/2019GL085132

The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Alice Lucchetti, Luca Penasa, Maurizio Pajola, Matteo Massironi, Maria Teresa Brunetti, Gabriele Cremonese, Nilda Oklay, Jean Baptiste Vincent, Stefano Mottola, Sonia Fornasier, Holger Sierks, Giampiero Naletto, Philippe L. Lamy, Rafael Rodrigo, Detlef Koschny, Bjorn Davidsson, Cesare Barbieri, Maria Antonietta Barucci, Jean Loup Bertaux, Ivano BertiniDennis Bodewits, Pamela Cambianica, Vania Da Deppo, Stefano Debei, Mariolino De Cecco, Jacob Deller, Sabrina Ferrari, Francesca Ferri, Marco Franceschi, Marco Fulle, Pedro Gutiérrez, Carsten Güttler, Wing H. Ip, Uwe Keller, Luisa Lara, Monica Lazzarin, Jose Lopez Moreno, Francesco Marzari, Cecilia Tubiana

Graduate Institute of Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Landslides have been identified on several solar system bodies, and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain their runout length. We analyze images from the Rosetta mission and report the global characterization of such features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. By assuming the height to runout length as an approximation for the friction coefficient of landslide material, we find that on comet 67P, this ratio falls between 0.50 and 0.97. Such unexpected high values reveal a rocky-type mechanical behavior that is much more akin to Earth dry landslides than to icy satellites' mass movements. This behavior indicates that 67P and likely comets in general are characterized by consolidated materials possibly rejecting the idea that they are fluffy aggregates. The variability of the runout length among 67P landslides can be attributed to the different volatile content located in the top few meters of the cometary crust, which can drive the mass movement.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14336-14346
Number of pages	11
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	46
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085132
State	Published - 28 Dec 2019

Keywords

comet 67P
comet surface
landslides

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10.1029/2019GL085132

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Lucchetti, A., Penasa, L., Pajola, M., Massironi, M., Brunetti, M. T., Cremonese, G., Oklay, N., Vincent, J. B., Mottola, S., Fornasier, S., Sierks, H., Naletto, G., Lamy, P. L., Rodrigo, R., Koschny, D., Davidsson, B., Barbieri, C., Barucci, M. A., Bertaux, J. L., ... Tubiana, C. (2019). The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(24), 14336-14346. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085132

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title = "The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko",

abstract = "Landslides have been identified on several solar system bodies, and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain their runout length. We analyze images from the Rosetta mission and report the global characterization of such features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. By assuming the height to runout length as an approximation for the friction coefficient of landslide material, we find that on comet 67P, this ratio falls between 0.50 and 0.97. Such unexpected high values reveal a rocky-type mechanical behavior that is much more akin to Earth dry landslides than to icy satellites' mass movements. This behavior indicates that 67P and likely comets in general are characterized by consolidated materials possibly rejecting the idea that they are fluffy aggregates. The variability of the runout length among 67P landslides can be attributed to the different volatile content located in the top few meters of the cometary crust, which can drive the mass movement.",

keywords = "comet 67P, comet surface, landslides",

author = "Alice Lucchetti and Luca Penasa and Maurizio Pajola and Matteo Massironi and Brunetti, {Maria Teresa} and Gabriele Cremonese and Nilda Oklay and Vincent, {Jean Baptiste} and Stefano Mottola and Sonia Fornasier and Holger Sierks and Giampiero Naletto and Lamy, {Philippe L.} and Rafael Rodrigo and Detlef Koschny and Bjorn Davidsson and Cesare Barbieri and Barucci, {Maria Antonietta} and Bertaux, {Jean Loup} and Ivano Bertini and Dennis Bodewits and Pamela Cambianica and {Da Deppo}, Vania and Stefano Debei and {De Cecco}, Mariolino and Jacob Deller and Sabrina Ferrari and Francesca Ferri and Marco Franceschi and Marco Fulle and Pedro Guti{\'e}rrez and Carsten G{\"u}ttler and Ip, {Wing H.} and Uwe Keller and Luisa Lara and Monica Lazzarin and Moreno, {Jose Lopez} and Francesco Marzari and Cecilia Tubiana",

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Lucchetti, A, Penasa, L, Pajola, M, Massironi, M, Brunetti, MT, Cremonese, G, Oklay, N, Vincent, JB, Mottola, S, Fornasier, S, Sierks, H, Naletto, G, Lamy, PL, Rodrigo, R, Koschny, D, Davidsson, B, Barbieri, C, Barucci, MA, Bertaux, JL, Bertini, I, Bodewits, D, Cambianica, P, Da Deppo, V, Debei, S, De Cecco, M, Deller, J, Ferrari, S, Ferri, F, Franceschi, M, Fulle, M, Gutiérrez, P, Güttler, C, Ip, WH, Keller, U, Lara, L, Lazzarin, M, Moreno, JL, Marzari, F & Tubiana, C 2019, 'The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 46, no. 24, pp. 14336-14346. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085132

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

AU - Lucchetti, Alice

AU - Penasa, Luca

AU - Pajola, Maurizio

AU - Massironi, Matteo

AU - Brunetti, Maria Teresa

AU - Cremonese, Gabriele

AU - Oklay, Nilda

AU - Vincent, Jean Baptiste

AU - Mottola, Stefano

AU - Fornasier, Sonia

AU - Sierks, Holger

AU - Naletto, Giampiero

AU - Lamy, Philippe L.

AU - Rodrigo, Rafael

AU - Koschny, Detlef

AU - Davidsson, Bjorn

AU - Barbieri, Cesare

AU - Barucci, Maria Antonietta

AU - Bertaux, Jean Loup

AU - Bertini, Ivano

AU - Bodewits, Dennis

AU - Cambianica, Pamela

AU - Da Deppo, Vania

AU - Debei, Stefano

AU - De Cecco, Mariolino

AU - Deller, Jacob

AU - Ferrari, Sabrina

AU - Ferri, Francesca

AU - Franceschi, Marco

AU - Fulle, Marco

AU - Gutiérrez, Pedro

AU - Güttler, Carsten

AU - Ip, Wing H.

AU - Keller, Uwe

AU - Lara, Luisa

AU - Lazzarin, Monica

AU - Moreno, Jose Lopez

AU - Marzari, Francesco

AU - Tubiana, Cecilia

PY - 2019/12/28

Y1 - 2019/12/28

N2 - Landslides have been identified on several solar system bodies, and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain their runout length. We analyze images from the Rosetta mission and report the global characterization of such features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. By assuming the height to runout length as an approximation for the friction coefficient of landslide material, we find that on comet 67P, this ratio falls between 0.50 and 0.97. Such unexpected high values reveal a rocky-type mechanical behavior that is much more akin to Earth dry landslides than to icy satellites' mass movements. This behavior indicates that 67P and likely comets in general are characterized by consolidated materials possibly rejecting the idea that they are fluffy aggregates. The variability of the runout length among 67P landslides can be attributed to the different volatile content located in the top few meters of the cometary crust, which can drive the mass movement.

AB - Landslides have been identified on several solar system bodies, and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain their runout length. We analyze images from the Rosetta mission and report the global characterization of such features on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's surface. By assuming the height to runout length as an approximation for the friction coefficient of landslide material, we find that on comet 67P, this ratio falls between 0.50 and 0.97. Such unexpected high values reveal a rocky-type mechanical behavior that is much more akin to Earth dry landslides than to icy satellites' mass movements. This behavior indicates that 67P and likely comets in general are characterized by consolidated materials possibly rejecting the idea that they are fluffy aggregates. The variability of the runout length among 67P landslides can be attributed to the different volatile content located in the top few meters of the cometary crust, which can drive the mass movement.

KW - comet 67P

KW - comet surface

KW - landslides

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077219924&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1029/2019GL085132

DO - 10.1029/2019GL085132

M3 - 期刊論文

AN - SCOPUS:85077219924

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 46

SP - 14336

EP - 14346

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 24

ER -

The Rocky-Like Behavior of Cometary Landslides on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

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