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Gully

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

Definition

Elongated erosional trench on steep slopes in the middle- to high-latitude region of Mars, usually with theater-shaped erosional alcove and terminal depositional apron, possibly formed by water flow and/or seasonal frost processes.

Synonyms

Alcove–channel–apron; Slope gully

Disambiguation

Although “Linear Gullies (Mars)” are referred to as “gullies” and occur in similar latitudinal bands as gullies, their connection to gullies (if any) remains under debate.

Description

On Mars,gullies are erosional features generally characterized by an alcove–channel–debris apron morphology. The theater-shaped alcove can be eroded into the host rock, generally tapers downslope, and may serve as a source region for erosional materials. Channels originate either at the base or within the alcove and are narrow erosional V-shaped features (in cross-section) that are typically 100–500 m long and 5–40 m wide. The debris apron is generally a fan-shaped deposit of accumulated material deposited...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Space Sciences and Astrobiology, NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, USA

    Jennifer L. Heldmann

  2. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Serina Diniega

  3. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

  4. Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Susan J. Conway

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Heldmann
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  2. Serina Diniega
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  3. Ákos Kereszturi
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  4. Susan J. Conway
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer L. Heldmann .

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Heldmann, J.L., Diniega, S., Kereszturi, Á., Conway, S.J. (2014). Gully. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_184-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_184-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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