The Valles Marineris canyon system in Mars shows large landslides across its walls, which can be 40 km wide and up to 60 km long, with fall scarps height as high as 7 km. These landslides were produced through a large mass movement at high speed by gravity across the trough floor. Although the triggering factors are unclear, several mechanisms have been proposed as, among others, large amounts of subsurface water, quake produced through normal faulting close to the canyon walls, and meteoritic impacts. In this work we examine the limit equilibrium slope stability of three landslides (placed respectively at Ius, Candor, and Melas Chasmata), which can be considered representative, with the aims of constraining their formation conditions. Our results suggest that external factors (as high pore fluid pressure, seismic loading or rock mass disturbance) do not seem necessary for the failure of slopes if they are composed of unconsolidated materials, while high pore water pressure or ground acceleration are needed to trigger slides in slopes composed of strong basaltic-like materials. Moreover, the presence of sub-surface ice would contribute to slope stability. As a whole, our findings point to ground shaking due to meteorite impacts as the main triggering force for most landslides in the Valles Marineris.

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Valles Marineris、Mars 的滑坡建模及其对引发机制的影响

火星上的 Valles Marineris 峡谷系统在其墙壁上显示出大型滑坡，其宽度可达 40 公里，最长可达 60 公里，坠落陡坡高度高达 7 公里。这些滑坡是由重力作用在槽底上的大规模高速运动产生的。虽然触发因素尚不清楚，但已经提出了几种机制，其中包括大量地下水、通过靠近峡谷壁的正常断层产生的地震以及陨石撞击。在这项工作中，我们检查了三个滑坡（分别位于 Ius、Candor 和 Melas Chasmata）的极限平衡边坡稳定性，这些滑坡可以被认为是具有代表性的，目的是限制它们的形成条件。我们的结果表明，外部因素（如高孔隙流体压力、地震荷载或岩体扰动）对于由松散材料组成的边坡似乎没有必要，而需要高孔隙水压力或地面加速度来触发由强玄武岩材料组成的边坡的滑动。此外，地下冰的存在将有助于斜坡稳定性。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，陨石撞击造成的地面震动是水手谷大多数山体滑坡的主要触发力。