  An elastic layer slides on a rigid flat governed by Coulomb's friction law.
We demonstrate that if the coefficient of friction is high enough, the sliding
localizes within stick-slip pulses, which transform into opening waves
propagating at intersonic speed in the direction of sliding or, for high
Poisson's ratios, at supersonic speed in the opposite direction. This sliding
mode, characterized by marginal frictional dissipation, and similar to carpet
fold propagation, may result in inversion of the frictional force direction; at
longer time intervals the system demonstrates stick-slip behavior. The
mechanism is described in detail and a parametric study is presented.
