Women are from Venus, and Alaska is like Mars? WTF?

Although geologists can usually tell what shapes the landscape around us, it was a mystery what formed the Mars-like features found in Alaska.

The conditions on Mars are quite different than anything experienced on Earth. For example, Mars is much colder than even the Arctic — the average martian temperature is -81 degrees F (-63 degrees C) — and the planet's atmospheric pressure is lower than Earth's. Still, for the same features to be present on Earth and Mars, the two professors suspected similar processes would have made them.

They had just over a week in Alaska to discover what created the glaciers and fans.
During this time they managed to see an impressive 289 events, including rock falls and floods. The vast majority of these events were snow and ice avalanches. The frequency of these avalanches astounded the scientists, who reasoned that climate change was the most likely culprit. As temperatures rise, the glaciers pull back, creating large areas where ice has been separated. Material can fall down these cracks and lead to avalanches. This was creating the features seen in Alaska, and perhaps the same thing had happened on Mars.

Being sort of an armchair science geek I find the comparison of the Mars landscape to Alaska's to be fascinating. I have always dreamed of visiting far away planets, and now I guess in some ways I already have.

New Alaska tourist motto: "Come to Alaska! It is out of this world!"

I must give a hat tip to my frequent visitor Lynne who sent me this link. Thanks Lynne!