in review

1. Landslide-Tsurrogate v1.0: A computationally efficient framework for probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment applied to Mayotte (France)

   Clea Lumina Denamiel, Alexis Marboeuf, Anne Mangeney, Anne Le Friant, Marc Peruzzetto, Antoine Lucas, Manuel J. Castro Díaz, and Enrique Fernández-Nieto

   GMD, in review.
2. Frictional weakening in the highly mobile 2025 Blatten rock–ice avalanche

   Jiahui Kang, Antoine Lucas, Anne Mangeney, Johan Gaume, Kate Allstadt, Clément Hibert, Liam Toney, Hervé Vicari, Michael Dietze, Mylène Jacquemart, Marc Peruzzetto, Lars Blatny, Michael L. Kyburz, Joachim Rimpot, Daniel Farinotti, and 1 more author

   Nat. Geosc., in review.
3. Bayesian Hapke inversion of (4) Vesta’s avalanches and ejecta: photometric constraints on regolith evolution

   A. Roque-Bernard, D.T. Nguyen, A. Lucas, S. Jacquemoud, and C. Ferrari

   A&A, in review.
4. Seismically Triggered Recent Boulder Falls After S0235b Marsquake on Cerberus Fossae, Mars

   S. Vijayan, Das Bivas, Subramanian V. Rama, Sahoo Rishav, A. Lucas, K.B. Kimi, U. Thahira, Aditi. R., S. Tuhi,  Harish,  Sandeep, and  Anil

   Icarus, in review.
5. Investigating the Detectability of Body Wave Phases from Tidal Ice Cracking Events on Titan with the Dragonfly Short-Period Seismometer

   L. Delaroque, T. Kawamura, A. Lucas, S. Rodriguez, K. Onodera, H. Shiraishi, R. Yamada, S. Tanaka, M. P. Panning, and R. D. Lorenz

   JGR-Planets, in review.

2025

1. 

   Spatial assessment of erosive processes in a badland catchment using diachronic LiDAR, Draix, Alpes de Haute-Provence, France

   Y. Boukhari, A. Lucas, C. Le Bouteiller, S. Klotz, G. Chabaud, and S. Jacquemoud

   Earth Surf. Dynam, 2025.

   abstract PDF url

   With denudation rates locally exceeding one centimetre of weathered marl per year, i.e., more than 200 T ha−1 yr−1, the badlands of the Durance basin in the French Alps are one of the most eroding areas in the world. Since 1983, the Draix-Bléone Observatory has been using hydro-sedimentary stations to monitor several of these small, unmanaged badland catchments, where the hydrological response to seasonal storms is rapid and intense. In order to fingerprint soil loss in the 86 ha Laval basin, we combine outlet records with an analysis of airborne and UAV LiDAR data taken over a 6-year period, alongside a bulk density model to account for porosity variations with depth and drainage network reconstruction. This allows us to map mass movements and determine a sediment budget at catchment scale. We find that landslides and crest failures represent very active areas, accounting for at least 15 % of the watershed’s sediment budget throughout the period under study, despite affecting only 1 % of the bare surfaces. They contribute to the high erosion rates observed in low-drainage areas, with up to two centimetres of fresh marl lost per year, 3.5 times the average value on the rest of the bare slopes. Despite certain methodological constraints, our approach seems very promising at identifying local erosion hotspots, quantifying their contribution to the sediment budget and assessing sediment transport across geomorphological units. It could also be adapted to time series and more detailed identification of geomorphic processes in order to monitor the dynamics of badland catchments in a changing climate.

2. 

   Unveiling tropical slow-moving landslides response to seasonality and extreme meteorological events using a combination of InSAR and optical imagery: the case study of Grand Eboulis (Réunion island)

   Coline Hopquin, Eric Gayer, Laurent Michon, Antoine Lucas, Delphine Smittarello, Nicolas d’Oreye, and Nicolas Villeneuve

   Geomorphology, 2025.

   abstract url

   Slow-moving landslides can cause significant infrastructure damage and casualties, making their monitoring a critical societal challenge. In the context of climate change and the projected intensification of rainfall extremes, understanding the response of slow-moving landslides to extreme meteorological conditions is essential. However, ground-based surveys are often difficult. In this study, we associate radar interferometry and optical imagery to investigate the dynamics of a remote tropical slow-moving landslide on Réunion Island, Grand Eboulis, and its relationship with precipitation regimes. Our approach enables us to retrieve (1) the bi-monthly dynamics of the Grand Eboulis landslide from cumulative displacement maps and ground deformation time series derived from Sentinel-1B images and (2) its multi-annual dynamics from optical aerial images. Between 2016 and 2021, the landslide moved eastward and downward at rates of up to 14 cm/yr and 9 cm/yr, respectively. Displacement was punctuated by periods of accelerated motion following an exceptionally wet season in mid-2018. In contrast, two slower periods coincided with the 2018 dry season combined with an exceptionally arid 2019, and with a prolonged drought in 2020. Additionally, between 2017 and 2019, shallow failures were mapped only in 2018 at the landslide front and were attributed to Cyclone Dumazile. This study suggests that slow-moving landslides may respond to seasonal contrasts by modulating their continuous displacement and to extreme events through shallow failures. The combined use of InSAR and remote sensed optical imagery proved to be efficient for studying such a type of events and can easily be widely applicable.

3. 

   Rheology & bathymetry effects captured by a multilayer landslide-tsunami model

   A. Marboeuf, A. Mangeney, A. Le Friant, M. J. Castro, E. Fernández-Nieto, A. Lucas, P. Poulain, A. Moatty, M. Silver, R. Pedreros, A. Lemoine, and F. Løvholt

   Geophysical Journal International, 2025.

   abstract url

   Numerical models are a powerful tool for understanding and predicting the impact of landslide-generated tsunamis. We use here the HySEA code which incorporates a multilayer structure and non-hydrostatic pressure to simulate the tsunami generated by a potential submarine landslide located offshore of the Mayotte island. The island is surrounded by a lagoon and steep slopes weakened by the 2018 seismo-volcanic crisis. The influence of the input parameters and of the model assumptions is shown to change by a factor 2 the predicted maximum water free surface elevation, velocity and maximum inundation depth. This demonstrates the need of using numerical models for building local scaling laws to relate tsunami and landslide properties. Our results highlight the necessity of incorporating high-resolution bathymetry, in-depth variations through multilayer modeling and relevant landslide rheology to accurately predict tsunami impact. In case of strong topography variations as in Mayotte, using 4 layers seems to be a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost. Accounting for these effects would enable to refine hazard maps by identifying safe and high-risk coastal zones and to improve wave arrival time estimates, thus reducing tsunami-related risks in regions like Mayotte.

4. 

   Evidence for Erosional Efficiency of Extreme Precipitation Events at a Multi-Decadal Time Scale

   E. Gayer, A. Lucas, L. Michon, and M. Gougeon

   Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 2025.

   abstract PDF url

   Extreme precipitation events play a pivotal role in shaping Earth’s surface through their influences on hillslope processes (triggering mass-wasting events) and on transport capacity and dynamics of rivers. This study investigates the impact of such events on sediment transport using Réunion Island as a natural laboratory due to its intense tropical rainfall regime. Through photogrammetric techniques using historical aerial images, we reconstructed nine DEMs of the entire canyon bed of the ephemeral Rivière des Remparts spanning six decades. Based on differences in DEMs and sediment volume estimates combined with cosmogenic 3 He measurements, we assessed the spatio-temporal evolution of the entire canyon bed and the drainage of products from major landslides and rock avalanches between 1950 and 2011. Results indicate that 50.2 ± 8.4 Mm 3 (145.5 ± 24.4 Mt) of sediment was transported out of the watershed over 62 years via bed load waves. We modeled the flow dates and showed that such an export of material occurred during only 391 days over the 62 years, at an average rate of 0.13 ± 0.02 Mm 3 /day (0.37 ± 0.06 Mt/day). Our investigation confirms that sediment transport coincides with officially recorded extreme meteorological events such as cyclones. Moreover, our findings reveal that sediment transport predominantly occurs on days corresponding to highpercentile rank precipitation events, demonstrating that all transport is concentrated during these intense rainfall periods. Finally, we underscore the extremely fast conveyance of material from slopes to deep-sea fans, facilitated in Réunion by the absence of a coastal platform.

5. 

   Mapping the surface characteristics of the Asal-Ghoubbet rift by massive inversion of the Hapke model on Pleiades multiangular images

   D.T. Nguyen, S Jacquemoud, A. Lucas, S. Douté, C. Ferrari, S. Coustance, S. Marcq, and A. Meygret

   Remote Sensing of Environment, 2025.

   abstract PDF url

   A massive inversion of the Hapke model is carried out over the Asal-Ghoubbet rift (Republic of Djibouti) using high-resolution multiangular Pleiades images. This is the first time that such an inversion is performed on Earth over an entire image, previous studies having focused on planetary surfaces. This work addresses challenges such as atmospheric and geometrical corrections of these images to produce parameter maps. The use of fast Bayesian inversion significantly reduces computation times thanks to efficient exploration of the parameter space and leads to improved prediction. The parameters of the Hapke model are also interpreted in terms of surface physical properties, thanks to field measurements. Single scattering albedo is the parameter extracted with the greatest reliability, although its validation is still difficult due to the absence of a simple formula linking it to surface reflectance. Our study reveals a close relationship between photometric roughness and single scattering albedo, indicating that accurate extraction of the former is highly dependent on values of the latter, which must be below 0.8 for reliable estimation. Finally, the correlation between phase function parameters and grain properties depends on surface type and material properties.

6. 

   Inferring discharge from river geometry on Titan

   C. Daudon, S. Rodriguez, E. Lajeunesse, A. Lucas, and S. Jacquemoud

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2025.

   abstract PDF url

   Titan’s dense atmosphere, composed mainly of methane and nitrogen, maintains a methane cycle that shapes its surface. Like water on Earth, methane precipitation erodes Titan’s surface, carving river networks at all latitudes, as revealed by the Cassini-Huygens mission. On Earth, it is well known that laboratory and natural rivers exhibit a power-law relationship between their bankfull geometry and water discharge, as described by the threshold theory. Here, we investigate this hydraulic-geometric relationship on two rivers on Titan, one near the equator and the other at the south pole. We hypothesize that this relationship can be applied to any river, and test it for the first time on extraterrestrial rivers. Having shown that Titan’s rivers are consistent with the threshold theory, we use this relationship to estimate river discharge from bankfull geometry. As a perspective, we then use these discharges to infer precipitation rates, which could help to better understand Titan’s climate.

2024

1. 

   A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang Earth for 9 days

   Kristian Svennevig, Stephen P. Hicks, Thomas Forbriger, Thomas Lecocq, Rudolf Widmer-Schnidrig, Anne Mangeney, Clément Hibert, Niels J. Korsgaard, Antoine Lucas, Claudio Satriano, Robert E. Anthony, Aurélien Mordret, Sven Schippkus, Søren Rysgaard, Wieter Boone, and 53 more authors

   Science, 2024.

   abstract PDF url

   Climate change is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides. Tsunamigenic landslides have occurred recently in Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), but none have been reported from the eastern fjords. In September 2023, we detected the start of a 9-day-long, global 10.88-millihertz (92-second) monochromatic very-long-period (VLP) seismic signal, originating from East Greenland. In this study, we demonstrate how this event started with a glacial thinning–induced rock-ice avalanche of 25 × 10^6 cubic meters plunging into Dickson Fjord, triggering a 200-meter-high tsunami. Simulations show that the tsunami stabilized into a 7-meter-high long-duration seiche with a frequency (11.45 millihertz) and slow amplitude decay that were nearly identical to the seismic signal. An oscillating, fjord-transverse single force with a maximum amplitude of 5 × 10^11 newtons reproduced the seismic amplitudes and their radiation pattern relative to the fjord, demonstrating how a seiche directly caused the 9-day-long seismic signal. Our findings highlight how climate change is causing cascading, hazardous feedbacks between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

2. 

   Possibly seismically triggered avalanches after the S1222a Marsquake and S1000a impact event

   A. Lucas, I.J. Daubar, M. Le Teuff, Clement Perrin, T. Kawamura, L. Posiolova, P. Lognonné, S. Rodriguez, D. Giardini, G. Sainton, A. Mangeney, and A. Mcewen

   Icarus, 2024.

   abstract PDF url

   Ground motion from seismic events detected by the SEIS/InSight seismometer on Mars could potentially trigger dust avalanches. Our research strongly suggests that the seismic event S1000a may have triggered a significant number of dust avalanches. In contrast, following the seismic event S1222a, there was only a modest increase in avalanche occurrences. Orbital observations of the area surrounding the projected location of the S1222a quake reveal notable topographic features, such as North-South ridges and impact craters. We utilize orbital imagery to evaluate the rate of avalanches and explore how the S1222a event might have influenced this rate. The S1222a event appears to be a plausible factor contributing to the observed increase in avalanches. Our further analysis of the epicenter location aims to clarify how it aligns with the avalanches’ spatial distribution, offering insights into the regional topography.

3. 

   Intercomparison of optical scattering turbidity sensors for a wide range of suspended sediment types and concentrations

   Maarten Bakker, Cédric Legout, Romain Biron, Guillaume Nord, Caroline Le Bouteiller, Laurie Boithias, Benoît Camenen, Solenn Cotel, Catherine Coulaud, Hervé Denis, Guillaume Dramais, Jessica Droujko, Ophélie Fovet, Guilhem Freche, Manuela Grippa, and 19 more authors

   CATENA, 2024.

   url

2023

1. 

   The 1965 Mahavel Landslide (Réunion Island, Indian Ocean): Morphology, Volumes, Flow Dynamics, and Causes of a Rock Avalanche in Tropical Setting

   Laurent Michon, Eric Gayer, Antoine Lucas, Franziska Bellin, and Matthieu Gougeon

   Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2023.

   abstract PDF url

   In May 1965, a main landslide occurred in a deeply incised valley of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, in Réunion Island. This event occurred one day after heavy rainfalls and was consequently interpreted as a mud/debris flow. We take advantage of several sets of historical photographs to reappraise this event. They show that the collapse of a large part of the valley headwall produced a rock flow that dropped 1,740 m and traveled 5,050 m. The surface morphology suggests that the landslide produced a main flow that evolved in a secondary flow in the distal part. The main flow deposit is composed of a matrix-rich fragmented facies and a jigsaw-fracturated facies. The matrix presents a gravely-to-silty granulometry and fractal dimensions ranging between 2.472 and 2.865. Volumes of the collapsed material (59.7 ± 3.1 Mm3) and the deposit (46 ± 13 Mm3) were determined from a photogrammetric approach. We estimated velocities ranging between 86 and 44 m s−1 along the flow path. Our simulations with SHALTOP reveal that the landslide geometry and velocities are well reproduced with frictional Coulomb rheology. We thus interpret the 1965 Mahavel landslide as a main rock avalanche rather than a mud/debris flow. We propose that the trigger of the 1965 avalanche, and of the smaller events in 1995 and 2001, is the water infiltration related to the intense rainfalls, which systematically preceded by one day each collapse. Finally, the succession of dry and wet years before each collapse event could promote favorable conditions to failure.

2. 

   Phenomenological model of suspended sediment transport in a small catchment

   Amande Roque-Bernard, Antoine Lucas, Eric Gayer, Pascal Allemand, Céline Dessert, and Eric Lajeunesse

   Earth Surface Dynamics, 2023.

   abstract PDF url

   We develop a phenomenological model of suspended sediment transport on the basis of data acquired in the Capesterre river, which drains a small tropical catchment in Guadeloupe. The model correctly represents the concentration of suspended sediment during floods, provided that the relation between concentration and water level forms a counterclockwise loop. In the model, the properties of the sediment and of the river are all lumped into four parameters: a settling velocity related to the size of the suspended sediment, a threshold water level which acts as a proxy for the threshold shear stress, a characteristic entrainment rate, and a dimensionless exponent. The value of the parameters changes from one flood to the next, probably reflecting changes in the characteristics of the river and the fine sediment. Finally, a test of the model against data acquired in a small catchment in the French Alps suggests that the model is versatile enough to be used in diverse hydrological settings.

3. Uncovering a 70-year-old permafrost degradation induced disaster in the Arctic, the 1952 Niiortuut landslide-tsunami in central West Greenland

   Kristian Svennevig, Marie Keiding, Niels Jákup Korsgaard, Antoine Lucas, Matthew Owen, Majken Djurhuus Poulsen, Janina Priebe, Erik Vest Sørensen, and Costanza Morino

   Science of The Total Environment, 2023.

   url
4. Permafrost molards as an analogue for ejecta-ice interactions at Hale Crater, Mars

   Costanza Morino, Susan Conway, Meven Philippe, Coralie Peignaux, Kristian Svennevig, Antoine Lucas, Axel Noblet, Gioachino Roberti, Frances Butcher, and Jake Collins-May

   Icarus, 2023.

   url
5. A Tectonic Origin for the Largest Marsquake Observed by InSight

   Benjamin Fernando, Ingrid Daubar, Constantinos Charalambous, Peter Grindrod, Alexander Stott, Abdullah Al Ateqi, Dimitra Atri, Savas Ceylan, John Clinton, Matthew Fillingim, Ernest Hauber, Jonathon Hill, Taichi Kawamura, Jianjun Liu, Antoine Lucas, and 11 more authors

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2023.

   PDF url

2022

1. Seismic sources of InSight marsquakes and seismotectonic context of Elysium Planitia, Mars

   A Jacob, M Plasman, C Perrin, N Fuji, P Lognonné, Z Xu, M Drilleau, N Brinkman, S Stähler, G Sainton, A Lucas, D Giardini, T Kawamura, J Clinton, and W B Banerdt

   Tectonophysics, 2022.

   PDF url
2. Geometry and Segmentation of Cerberus Fossae, Mars: Implications for Marsquake Properties

   Clement Perrin, A Jacob, A Lucas, R Myhill, E Hauber, A Batov, T Gudkova, S Rodriguez, P Lognonné, J Stevanović, M Drilleau, and N Fuji

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2022.

   PDF url
3. Composition, Roughness, and Topography from Radar Backscatter at Selk Crater, the Dragonfly Landing Site

   Léa E. Bonnefoy, Antoine Lucas, Alexander G. Hayes, Sébastien Rodriguez, Valerio Poggiali, Daniel E. Lalich, Ralph D. Lorenz, and Alice Le Gall

   The Planetary Science Journal, 2022.

   PDF url
4. Decennial geomorphic transport from archived time series digital elevation models: a cookbook for tropical and alpine environments

   Antoine Lucas, and Eric Gayer

   IEEE geoscience and remote sensing magazine, 2022.

   abstract PDF url

   On the seasonal timescale, for accessible locations and when manpower is available, direct observations and field surveys are the most useful and standard approaches. However very limited studies have been conducted through direct examination on decennial-to-century timescales due to observational constrains. Here, we present an open and reproducible pipeline based on historical aerial images (across a timeline of up to 70 years) that includes sensor calibration, dense matching, and elevation reconstruction in two areas of interest that represent pristine examples of tropical and alpine environments. The Remparts and Langevin rivers, on Réunion Island, and the Bossons glacier, in the French Alps, share limited accessibility (in time and space) that can be overcome only by remote sensing. We reach a metric-to-submetric resolution close to the nominal image spatial sampling. This provides elevation time series with better resolution than most recent satellite images, such as Pleiades, in a decennial time period.

5. Science goals and new mission concepts for futureexploration of Titan’s atmosphere, geologyand habitability: titan POlar scout/orbitEr and in situ lakelander and DrONe explorer (POSEIDON)

   Sébastien Rodriguez, Sandrine Vinatier, Daniel Cordier, G. Tobie, Richard K. Achterberg, Carrie M. Anderson, Sarah V. Badman, Jason W. Barnes, Erika L. Barth, Bruno Bézard, Nathalie Carrasco, Benjamin Charnay, Roger N. Clark, Patrice Coll, Thomas Cornet, and 49 more authors

   Experimental Astronomy, 2022.

   PDF url

2021

1. Seasonal seismic activity on Mars

   M. Knapmeyer, S.C. Stähler, I. Daubar, F. Forget, A. Spiga, T. Pierron, M. Driel, D. Banfield, E. Hauber, M. Grott, N. Müller, Clement Perrin, A. Jacob, A. Lucas, B. Knapmeyer-Endrun, and 21 more authors

   Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2021.

   PDF url
2. Topography curvature effects in thin-layer models for gravity-driven flows without bed erosion

   Marc Peruzzetto, Anne Mangeney, François Bouchut, Gilles Grandjean, Clara Lévy, Yannick Thiery, and Antoine Lucas

   Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2021.

   PDF url
3. Dynamics of recent landslides (<20 My) on Mars: Insights from high-resolution topography on Earth and Mars and numerical modelling

   A. Guimpier, Susan J. Conway, A. Mangeney, A. Lucas, N. Mangold, M. Peruzzetto, M. Pajola, A. Lucchetti, G. Munaretto, T. Saemundsson, A. Johnsson, Laetitia Le Deit, P. Grindrod, J. Davis, N. Thomas, and 1 more author

   Planetary and Space Science, 2021.

   PDF url
4. The thermal emission of Saturn’s icy moons Effects of topography and regolith properties

   C. Ferrari, A. Lucas, and S. Jacquemoud

   Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, 2021.

   PDF url
5. Vortex-Dominated Aeolian Activity at InSight’s Landing Site, Part 1: Multi-Instrument Observations, Analysis, and Implications

   C Charalambous, J Mcclean, M Baker, W Pike, M Golombek, M Lemmon, V. Ansan, C Perrin, A Spiga, R Lorenz, M Banks, N Murdoch, Sébastien Rodriguez, C Weitz, J Grant, and 18 more authors

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2021.

   PDF url

2020

1. A New Digital Terrain Model of the Huygens Landing Site on Saturn’s Largest Moon, Titan

   C Daudon, A Lucas, S Rodriguez, S Jacquemoud, A Escalante lópez, B Grieger, E Howington-kraus, E Karkoschka, R Kirk, J. T. Perron, J Soderblom, and M Costa

   Earth and Space Science, 2020.

   PDF url
2. The seismicity of Mars

   D. Giardini, P. Lognonné, W. Banerdt, W. Pike, U. Christensen, S. Ceylan, J. Clinton, M. Driel, S. Stähler, M. Böse, R. Garcia, A. Khan, M. Panning, C. Perrin, D. Banfield, and 48 more authors

   Nature Geoscience, 2020.

   PDF url
3. Operational Estimation of Landslide Runout: Comparison of Empirical and Numerical Methods

   Marc Peruzzetto, Anne Mangeney, Gilles Grandjean, Clara Levy, Yannick Thiery, Jeremy Rohmer, and Antoine Lucas

   Geosciences, 2020.

   PDF url
4. A New Crater Near InSight: Implications for Seismic Impact Detectability on Mars

   I. Daubar, P. Lognonné, N. Teanby, G. Collins, J. Clinton, S. Stähler, A. Spiga, F. Karakostas, S. Ceylan, M. Malin, A. Mcewen, R. Maguire, C. Charalambous, K. Onodera, Antoine Lucas, and 24 more authors

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2020.

   PDF url
5. Monitoring of Dust Devil Tracks Around the InSight Landing Site, Mars, and Comparison With In Situ Atmospheric Data

   C Perrin, S Rodriguez, A Jacob, A Lucas, A Spiga, N Murdoch, R Lorenz, I Daubar, L Pan, T Kawamura, P Lognonné, D Banfield, M Banks, R Garcia, C Newman, and 4 more authors

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2020.

   PDF url
6. The atmosphere of Mars as observed by InSight

   Don Banfield, Aymeric Spiga, Claire Newman, François Forget, Mark Lemmon, Ralph Lorenz, Naomi Murdoch, Daniel Viudez-Moreiras, Jorge Pla-Garcia, Raphaël Garcia, Philippe Lognonné, Özgür Karatekin, Clement Perrin, Léo Martire, Nicholas Teanby, and 46 more authors

   Nature Geoscience, 2020.

   PDF url
7. Crust stratigraphy and heterogeneities of the first kilometers at the dichotomy boundary in western Elysium Planitia and implications for InSight lander

   L. Pan, C. Quantin-Nataf, B. Tauzin, C. Michaut, M. Golombek, P. Lognonné, P. Grindrod, Benoit Langlais, T. Gudkova, I. Stepanova, S. Rodriguez, and Antoine Lucas

   Icarus, 2020.

   PDF url

2019

1. Deep-seated gravitational slope deformation scaling on Mars and Earth: same fate for different initial conditions and structural evolutions

   Olga Kromuszczyńska, Daniel Mège, Krzysztof Dębniak, Joanna Gurgurewicz, Magdalena Makowska, and Antoine Lucas

   Earth Surface Dynamics, 2019.

   PDF url
2. The case for seasonal surface changes at Titan’s lake district

   Shannon Mackenzie, Jason Barnes, Jason Hofgartner, Samuel Birch, Matthew Hedman, Antoine Lucas, Sébastien Rodriguez, Elizabeth Turtle, and Christophe Sotin

   Nature Astronomy, 2019.

   PDF url
3. Empirical investigation of friction weakening of terrestrial and Martian landslides using discrete element models

   Timur Borykov, Daniel Mège, Anne Mangeney, Patrick Richard, Joanna Gurgurewicz, and Antoine Lucas

   Landslides, 2019.

   PDF url
4. Titan as Revealed by the Cassini Radar

   R. M. C. Lopes, S.D. Wall, C. Elachi, Samuel P. D. Birch, P. Corlies, Athena Coustenis, A. G. Hayes, J. D. Hofgartner, Michael A. Janssen, R. L Kirk, Alice Le Gall, R. D. Lorenz, Jonathan I. Lunine, Michael J. Malaska, M. Mastroguiseppe, and 33 more authors

   Space Science Reviews, 2019.

   PDF url
5. Texture and composition of Titan’s equatorial sand seas inferred from Cassini SAR data: Implications for aeolian transport and dune morphodynamics

   Antoine Lucas, Sébastien Rodriguez, Florentin Lemonnier, Alice Le Gall, Shannon Mackenzie, Cécile Ferrari, Philippe Paillou, and Clément Narteau

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2019.

   PDF url
6. Persistence of intense, climate-driven runoff late in Mars history

   Edwin Kite, David Mayer, Sharon Wilson, Joel M Davis, Antoine Lucas, and Gaia Quay

   Science Advances , 2019.

   PDF url

2018

1. First quantification of relationship between dune orientation and sediment availability, Olympia Undae, Mars

   Laura Fernandez-Cascales, Antoine Lucas, Sébastien Rodriguez, Xin Gao, Aymeric Spiga, and Clément Narteau

   Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2018.

   url
2. Impact-Seismic Investigations of the InSight Mission

   Ingrid Daubar, Philippe Lognonné, Nicholas A. Teanby, Katarina Miljkovic, Jennifer Stevanović, Jeremie Vaubaillon, Balthasar Kenda, Taichi Kawamura, John Clinton, Antoine Lucas, Melanie Drilleau, Charles Yana, Gareth S. Collins, Don Banfield, Matthew Golombek, and 22 more authors

   Space Science Reviews, 2018.

   PDF url
3. Observational evidence for active dust storms on Titan at equinox

   S. Rodriguez, Stéphane Le Mouélic, J. Barnes, J. Kok, S. Rafkin, R. Lorenz, B. Charnay, J. Radebaugh, C. Narteau, T. Cornet, Olivier Bourgeois, A. Lucas, P. Rannou, C. Griffith, A. Coustenis, and 15 more authors

   Nature Geoscience, 2018.

   PDF url
4. Atmospheric Science with InSight

   Aymeric Spiga, Don Banfield, Nicholas A. Teanby, François Forget, Antoine Lucas, Balthasar Kenda, Jose Antonio Rodriguez Manfredi, Rudolf Widmer-Schnidrig, Naomi Murdoch, Mark T. Lemmon, Raphaël F. Garcia, Léo Martire, Özgür Karatekin, Sébastien Le Maistre, Bart Hove, and 22 more authors

   Space Science Reviews, 2018.

   PDF url
5. Geological Evolution of Titan’s Equatorial Regions: Possible Nature and Origin of the Dune Material

   Jeremy Brossier, Sébastien Rodriguez, Thomas Cornet, Antoine Lucas, Jani Radebaugh, Luca Maltagliati, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Anezina Solomonidou, Athena Coustenis, Mathieu Hirtzig, Ralf Jaumann, Katrin Stephan, and Christophe Sotin

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2018.

   PDF url
6. OZCAR : The French Network of Critical Zone Observatories

   Jérôme Gaillardet, Isabelle Braud, Fatim Hankard, Sandrine Anquetin, Olivier Bour, Nathalie Dörfliger, Jean-Raynald Dreuzy, Sylvie Galle, Catherine Galy, Sébastien Gogo, Laurence Gourcy, Florence Habets, Fatima Laggoun-Défarge, Laurent Longuevergne, Tanguy Le Borgne, and 134 more authors

   Vadose Zone Journal, 2018.

   PDF url
7. Geology and Physical Properties Investigations by the InSight Lander

   M. Golombek, M. Grott, G. Kargl, J. Andrade, J. Marshall, N. Warner, N. A. Teanby, V. Ansan, E. Hauber, J. Voigt, R. Lichtenheldt, B. Knapmeyer-Endrun, I. J. Daubar, D. Kipp, Nicolas Muller, and 31 more authors

   Space Science Reviews, 2018.

   PDF url

2017

1. Thermally anomalous features in the subsurface of Enceladus’s south polar terrain

   Alice Le Gall, Cédric Leyrat, Michael A. Janssen, Gael Choblet, G. Tobie, Olivier Bourgeois, Antoine Lucas, Christophe Sotin, C. Howett, Randolph Kirk, R. D. Lorenz, Richard D. West, Aurélien Stolzenbach, Marion Massé, A. H. Hayes, and 3 more authors

   Nature Astronomy, 2017.

   url

2016

1. Variations in Titan’s dune orientations as a result of orbital forcing

   George D. McDonald, Alexander G. Hayes, Ryan C. Ewing, Juan M. Lora, Claire E. Newman, Tetsuya Tokano, Antoine Lucas, Alejandro Soto, and Gang Chen

   Icarus, 2016.

   url
2. Compositional and spatial variations in Titan dune and interdune regions from Cassini VIMS and RADAR

   Léa Bonnefoy, Alexander G. Hayes, Paul O. Hayne, Michael J. Malaska, Alice Le Gall, Anezina Solomonidou, and Antoine Lucas

   Icarus, 2016.

   url
3. Low thermal inertias of icy planetary surfaces

   C. Ferrari, and A. Lucas

   Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A, 2016.

   PDF url

2015

1. Methane storms as a driver of Titan’s dune orientation

   Benjamin Charnay, Erika Barth, Scott Rafkin, Clément Narteau, Sébastien Lebonnois, Sébastien Rodriguez, Sylvain Courrech Du Pont, and Antoine Lucas

   Nature Geoscience, 2015.

   url
2. Stratigraphy of Aeolis Dorsa, Mars: Stratigraphic context of the great river deposits

   Edwin S. Kite, Alan D. Howard, Antoine Lucas, John C. Armstrong, Oded Aharonson, and Michael P. Lamb

   Icarus, 2015.

   url
3. Sediment flux from the morphodynamics of elongating linear dunes

   Antoine Lucas, Clement Narteau, Sébastien Rodriguez, Olivier Rozier, Yann Callot, Amandine Garcia, and Sylvain Courrech Du Pont

   Geology, 2015.

   url
4. Resolving the era of river-forming climates on Mars using stratigraphic logs of river-deposit dimensions

   Edwin S. Kite, Alan D. Howard, Antoine Lucas, and Kevin W. Lewis

   Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015.

   url
5. Sand dune patterns on Titan controlled by long-term climate cycles

   Ryan Ewing, Alex Hayes, and Antoine Lucas

   Nature Geoscience, 2015.

   url

2014

1. Frictional velocity-weakening in landslides on Earth and on other planetary bodies

   Antoine Lucas, Anne Mangeney, and Jean-Paul Ampuero

   Nature Communications, 2014.

   PDF url
2. Threshold for sand mobility on Mars calibrated from seasonal variations of sand flux

   F. Ayoub, Jean-Philippe Avouac, C.E. Newman, M.I. Richardson, A. Lucas, S. Leprince, and N.T. Bridges

   Nature Communications, 2014.

   PDF url
3. Insights into Titan’s geology and hydrology based on enhanced image processing of Cassini RADAR data

   Antoine Lucas, Oded Aharonson, Charles-Alban Deledalle, Alexander G. Hayes, Randolph Kirk, and Elpitha Howington-Kraus

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2014.

   PDF url
4. Global mapping and characterization of Titan’s dune fields with Cassini: Correlation between RADAR and VIMS observations

   S. Rodriguez, A. Garcia, A. Lucas, T. Appéré, A. Le Gall, E. Reffet, L. Le Corre, S. Le Mouélic, T. Cornet, S. Pont, C. Narteau, O. Bourgeois, J. Radebaugh, K. Arnold, J.W. Barnes, and 6 more authors

   Icarus, 2014.

   url
5. Growth mechanisms and dune orientation on Titan

   Antoine Lucas, Sébastien Rodriguez, Clément Narteau, Benjamin Charnay, Sylvain Courrech Pont, Tetsuya Tokano, Amandine Garcia, Mélanie Thiriet, Alexander G. Hayes, Ralph D. Lorenz, and Oded Aharonson

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2014.

   url
6. Low palaeopressure of the martian atmosphere estimated from the size distribution of ancient craters

   Edwin S. Kite, Jean-Pierre Williams, Antoine Lucas, and Oded Aharonson

   Nature Geoscience, 2014.

   url
7. A radar map of Titan Seas: Tidal dissipation and ocean mixing through the throat of Kraken

   Ralph D. Lorenz, Randolph L. Kirk, Alexander G. Hayes, Yanhua Z. Anderson, Jonathan I. Lunine, Tetsuya Tokano, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Michael J. Malaska, Jason M. Soderblom, Antoine Lucas, Özgür Karatekin, and Stephen D. Wall

   Icarus, 2014.

   url

2013

1. A global topographic map of Titan

   Ralph D. Lorenz, Bryan W. Stiles, Oded Aharonson, Antoine Lucas, Alexander G. Hayes, Randolph L. Kirk, Howard A. Zebker, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Catherine D. Neish, Ellen R. Stofan, and Jason W. Barnes

   Icarus, 2013.

   url
2. Pacing early Mars river activity: Embedded craters in the Aeolis Dorsa region imply river activity spanned ≳(1–20)Myr

   Edwin S. Kite, Antoine Lucas, and Caleb I. Fassett

   Icarus, 2013.

   url

2012

1. Morphological and mechanical characterization of gullies in a periglacial environment: The case of the Russell crater dune (Mars)

   Gwenaël Jouannic, Julien Gargani, F. Costard, Gian Gabriele Ori, Chiara Marmo, Frédéric Schmidt, and Antoine Lucas

   Planetary and Space Science, 2012.

   url
2. Earth-like sand fluxes on Mars

   N. T. Bridges, F. Ayoub, J-P. Avouac, S. Leprince, A. Lucas, and S. Mattson

   Nature, 2012.

   url

2011

1. Stratigraphy, mineralogy, and origin of layered deposits inside Terby crater, Mars

   V. Ansan, D. Loizeau, N. Mangold, S. Le Mouélic, J. Carter, F. Poulet, Gilles Dromart, A. Lucas, J.P. Bibring, A. Gendrin, B. Gondet, Y. Langevin, Ph. Masson, S. Murchie, J.F. Mustard, and 1 more author

   Icarus, 2011.

   url
2. Influence of the scar geometry on landslide dynamics and deposits: Application to Martian landslides

   Antoine Lucas, Anne Mangeney, Daniel Mège, and François Bouchut

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2011.

   PDF url
3. On the run-out distance of geophysical gravitational flows: Insight from fluidized granular collapse experiments

   Olivier Roche, M. Attali, Anne Mangeney, and A. Lucas

   Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2011.

   url

2010

1. Erosion and mobility in granular collapse over sloping beds

   A. Mangeney, Olivier Roche, O. Hungr, N. Mangold, Gloria Faccanoni, and A. Lucas

   Journal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth, 2010.

   PDF url
2. Numerical modeling of landquakes

   P. Favreau, Anne Mangeney, A. Lucas, G. Crosta, and François Bouchut

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2010.

   PDF url
3. Sinuous gullies on Mars: frequency, distribution, and implications for flow properties

   Nicolas Mangold, Anne Mangeney, V. Migeon, V. Ansan, Antoine Lucas, David Baratoux, and François Bouchut

   Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2010.

   PDF url

2009

1. New insight on genetic links between outflows and chasmata on Valles Marineris plateau, Mars

   Antoine Lucas, Véronique Ansan, and Nicolas Mangold

   Géomorphologie: relief, processus, environnement, 2009.

   url

2007

1. Mobility and topographic effects for large Valles Marineris landslides on Mars

   Antoine Lucas, and Anne Mangeney

   Geophysical Research Letters, 2007.

   PDF url

1. Integrated Analysis of the Blatten Rock-Ice Avalanche: Seismology, Geomorphology, and Modeling

   A. Lucas, F. Walter, J. Kang, A. Mangeney, K. Allstadt, L. Toney, J. Gaume, and C. Hibert

   In International Mountain Conference 2025 (IMC2025), 2025.

   abstracturl

   On May 28, 2025, a massive rock-ice avalanche struck near Blatten (Lötschental Valley, Switzerland), triggering seismic waves equivalent to a magnitude 3.1 earthquake. While the 300 residents were evacuated in time, one shepherd was killed and 90% of the village was buried. The event underscores rising alpine hazards linked to permafrost thaw and glacier destabilization, and the need for effective monitoring and early warning systems. To better understand the dynamics of such events, we conduct research that combines seismic signal analysis, geomorphological observations, and numerical simulations. Since the pioneering work of Kanamori and Brodsky, it has been well established that landslides, including rock, debris, and snow avalanches, generate seismic waves that contain critical information about the source: flow duration, mobilized mass, granular friction, particle impacts on the ground, and interactions with water. These seismic waves, recorded by dense sensor networks at distances of up to 1000 km depending on landslide volume and frequency content, exhibit a broad spectral range. High-frequency waves are primarily generated by grain-scale flow processes, while long-period waves are linked to the overall accelerations and decelerations of the flow. High-frequency signals are significantly distorted by topography and subsurface heterogeneities, making their interpretation challenging. In contrast, long-period waves are less sensitive to such effects and can be used to retrieve the force exerted by the landslide on the ground through seismic waveform inversion. This force is obtained by deconvolving the low-frequency seismic signal with the Earth’s Green’s function and provides a means to interpret the mechanical characteristics of the flow. It can be analyzed using physical models ranging from single-block approximations to more advanced granular flow models. However, the inverted force is inherently limited by the bandwidth of the seismic instruments, which may distort its amplitude, duration, and even polarity. To overcome these limitations, we incorporate additional constraints from independent observations, such as deposit geometry and volumes derived from differential digital elevation models, as well as from numerical simulations, which provide both physical constraints and a means to explore plausible scenarios of the flow dynamics. In this contribution, we introduce the general principles of our combined approach, using the Blatten avalanche as a case study and as an entry point to the more specialized analyses conducted by our research group.

2. Sentinel-HR Phase 0 Report

   Julien Michel, Olivier Hagolle,  ..., Antoine Lucas, and  ...

   , 2022.

   PDFurl
3. Geomorphic transport from historical shape from motion: Implications for tropical and alpine environments

   Antoine Lucas, and Eric Gayer

   ESSOAr Preprint, 2019.

   url
4. FARMYARD: A Generic GPU-based Pipeline for Feature Discovery from Massive Planetary LiDAR Data

   Shen Liang, Antoine Lucas, and  ...

   TechRxiv Preprint, 2022.

   url
5. POPS: An Efficient Framework for GPU-based Feature Extraction of Massive Gridded Planetary LiDAR Data

   Shen Liang, Themis Palpanas, and Antoine Lucas

   HAL Preprint, 2022.

   url
6. Titan’s surface geology

   O. Aharonson, A. G. Hayes, P. O. Hayne, R. M. Lopes, A. Lucas, and J. T. Perron

   In Titan: Interior, Surface, Atmosphere, and Space Environment, 2014.
7. Slippery sliding on icy Iapetus

   Antoine Lucas

   Nature Geoscience, 2012.

   abstract url

   Enigmatically, some landslides flow farther than normal frictional resistance allows. Cassini images of Saturn’s icy moon Iapetus reveal a multitude of long-runout landslides that may have been enabled by flash heating along the sliding surface.

8. Benchmarking Exercises for Granular Flows

   Antoine Lucas, Anne Mangeney, François Bouchut, Marie-Odile Bristeau, and Daniel Mège

   , 2007.

   abstract PDFurl

   For the International Forum on Landslide Disaster Management 2007 framework, our team performed several numerical simulations on both theoretical and natural cases of granular flows. The objective was to figure out the ability and the limits of our numerical model in terms of reproduction and prediction. Our benchmarking exercises show that for almost all the cases, the model we use is able to reproduce observations at the field scale. Calibrated friction angles are almost similar to that used in other models and the shape of the final deposits is in good agreement with observation. However, as it is tricky to compare the dynamics of natural cases, these exercises do not allow us to highlight the good ability to reproduce the behavior of natural landslides. Nevertheless, by comparing with analytical solution, we show that our model presents very low numerical dissipation due to the discretization and to the numerical scheme used. Finally, in terms of mitigation and prediction, the different friction angles used for each cases figure out the limits of using such model as long as constitutive equations for granular media are not known.

2. Geomorphic transports in Terrestrial & Planetary Critical Zones
   Lucas, Antoine
   HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches), Université Paris Cité, 2025.
   Abstract

   The granular materials—whether they descend slopes as avalanches of debris or rock, or are shaped by wind into vast sand seas—dominate many solid bodies within the Solar System. These processes that shape planetary surfaces serve as witnesses to forcing mechanisms. The study presented condenses a decade of research on sediment mobility, conducted quantitatively and integrated with: (i) physical or phenomenological models along with numerical simulations of sediment transport; (ii) multi-wavelength remote sensing measurements supported by radiative modeling and photogrammetry. Applied to the dune fields of Titan, Mars, and Earth’s deserts, these approaches demonstrate how aeolian conditions, sediment supply, and substrate texture (whether rocky or icy) influence the orientation and wavelength of dunes. They also quantify transitions between dust and sand that feed into planetary atmospheric cycles. This framework offers a new perspective on slope instability phenomena such as landslides and debris avalanches. Analyzing the morphodynamic system through the Solar System reveals a common phenomenological framework, allowing observations, measurements, seismic recordings, and numerical modeling to be reconciled. Finally, this approach retraces the mechanics of propagation and upstream-downstream coupling between slope instabilities (e.g., landslides, debris avalanches) and fluvial responses. This work leads to numerous methodological and thematic insights. Notably, it seeks a better understanding of how changes in climatic conditions affect sediment transport over different time scales. For example, if it is demonstrated that permafrost degradation increases instability occurrences, the study also explores whether these instabilities’ behavior is similarly impacted. This has implications for sediment availability, unaltered material availability, and carbon fluxes on Earth. By linking granular physical processes with remote sensing and comparative planetary science, this work provides a coherent framework to interpret—and ultimately predict—geomorphological traces of climate change on Earth.

4. Dynamique des instabilités gravitaires par modélisation et télédétection: Applications aux exemples martiens
   Lucas, Antoine
   PhD Thesis, IPGP, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), 2010.
   Online record | PDF
   Abstract

   EN: Slope instabilities take part in weathering and transport processes at the surface. The runout distance is extensively used in analysis of landslide dynamics and in the calibration of the rheological parameters involved in numerical modelling. However, the unknown impact of the uncertainty in the shape of the initial released mass on the runout distance and on the overall shape of the deposit questions the relevance of these approaches. Indeed, the shape of the initial scar is generally unknown in real cases. Our study is based on numerical simulations coupled with remote sensing data analysis. The model used in this study has been intensively compared with laboratory experiments and well constrained natural cases in order to establish its range of use. We have also developed a pre-event topographic reconstruction method using remote sensing data allowing the study of the topographic and initial failure plane geometry effects. We show that the runout distance is a robust parameter that is only poorly affected by the initial scar geometry. On the contrary, the extent of the deposits perpendicular to the main mass displacement direction is shown to be controlled by the scar geometry, providing a unique tool to retrieve information of the initial failure geometry, as well as on the released volume. A feedback analysis of Martian landslides shows excellent agreement between numerical results and geomorphological evidence, providing insight into the initial landsliding conditions. In addition, we introduce a new empirical dissipation parameter allowing a good prediction of the runout in the simulation without any calibration for a given geological context.
   FR: Les instabilités gravitaires contribuent aux processus de transport de matière à la surface des planètes et constituent des risques importants pour les populations sur Terre. Afin d’apporter des contraintes sur la dynamique des instabilités gravitaires, notre étude se base sur le couplage entre simulation numérique et analyse des données par télédétection. Le modèle utilisé s’est montré capable de reproduire des observations en laboratoire ainsi que la dynamique enregistrée par des signaux sismiques pour un exemple terrestre. En outre, nous avons développé une méthode de reconstruction topographique pré-glissement en utilisant les données satellitaires afin d’étudier les effets des conditions initiales. En effet, la distance d’arrêt (runout) des dépôts est très largement utilisée dans l’analyse de la dynamique des glissements de terrain ainsi que dans la calibration des paramètres rhéologiques impliqués dans la modélisation, et ce malgré les incertitudes sur la géométrie initiale. Nous montrons par des tests théoriques que le runout est faiblement affecté par la géométrie du plan de rupture. Au contraire, l’extension latérale se révèle être contrôlée par la géométrie initiale ce qui fourni un cadre unique pour remonter également au volume initial. L’application aux exemples martiens apporte des contraintes sur les conditions de mise en place et ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour la compréhension de la dynamique de ces processus. En outre, nous introduisons un nouveau paramètre de dissipation empirique indépendant de la topographie permettant, sans calibration, de retrouver par la simulation la bonne distance de runout dans un contexte géologique donné.