A giant landslide on Iapetus stretches halfway across a 75-mile (120 km) crater. CREDIT: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
Scientists are hoping that long landslides visible on Saturn's moon Iapetus may provide clues to understand similar movements here on Earth, in particular how earthquake fault lines often slip farther than expected. Scientists have concluded that flash heating could cause the falling ice to move 10 to 15 times farther than expected.