ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with wind abrasion on Earth and Mars. Sufficient information on the characteristics of windblown particles, wind frequencies, and material properties appropriate are provided for estimating rates of wind abrasion on Earth and Mars. Granite appears to be absent or rare on Mars and consequently there may be very little quartz sand present. Furthermore under the present Martian climate, and with the apparent lack of active volcanism and tectonism, the generation of sand-size particles on Mars is probably suppressed in comparison to that on Earth. Windblown particles and rock targets of a wide range were selected for simulations of eolian abrasion on Earth and Mars. The flux of material on Mars is consistently higher than it is on Earth, in spite of the lower Martian atmospheric density. During the past decade intensive observations of Mars have been made from Earth and from spacecraft which provide a variety of data that can be used to assess wind frequencies.
