The rate of granule ripple movement on Earth and Mars

The rate of movement for 3and 10-cm-high granule ripples was documented in September of 2006 at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve during a particularly strong wind event. Impact creep induced by saltating sand caused 24 granules min 1 to cross each cm of crest length during wind that averaged 9 m s 1 (at a height well above 1 m), which is substantially larger than the threshold for saltation of sand. Extension of this documented granule movement rate to Mars suggests that a 25-cm-high granule ripple should require from hundreds to thousands of Earth-years to move 1 cm under present atmospheric conditions. Published by Elsevier Inc.