Lines, lines
Mars’ fleets of rock “boats”
January 13, 2014Little dunes that Curiosity saw last October
January 24, 2014
A piece of Mars: On martian dunes it’s all about lines, lines, lines. The prominent wavy ones on the left are thought to be erosional scars left by sliding blocks of dry ice. The little fingerprint-like lines are ripples, like those found on any Earth dune. All those lines tell us that the dunes are formed as the wind, ice, and sand interact over time. (826×620 m, ESP_021838_1300, NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona)
2 Comments
Are the pit ends at the bottom of the slope?
Yep, the pits are near the bottom. The sunlight is coming from the upper left. Lighting in the dunes can be tricky to figure out if you don’t look at these all day the way I do — sorry, I forget that sometimes.