Shockwave Avalanches On Mars

Meteors slamming into a slope could directly trigger an avalanche. That's obvious. A meteor strike could also set up a seismic wave that could cause avalanches. That's pretty clear, too. Researchers have found a different twist on Mars, however. Meteors screaming through the thin Martian air also set up shockwaves that can bring on avalanches. Computer simulations have strengthened that case by producing the same patterns found in images of the Martian surface.

The atmosphere of Mars is so thin that it doesn't protect the surface from incoming space rocks, so Mars has several fairly substantial such collisions each year.