September 25, 2017

The crazy laciness of martian TARs

A Piece of Mars: Take a look at the windblown stuff in this 0.55×0.625 km (0.34×0.39 mi) scene. Those are intricate patterns of a sort of dune-ripple thing that forms all over on Mars, but not so much on Earth. […]
September 17, 2017

Dust trapped on the lee side

A Piece of Mars: This 0.95×1 km (.59x.62 mi) scene shows the center of a small dune field. The dunes are shaped by three winds blowing from three different directions: from the west-southwest, east, and south. The north-facing slopes are […]
September 5, 2017

Leeward and poleward

A Piece of Mars: The sharp line in this 0.625×0.625 km (0.39×0.39 mi) scene is the crest of a long dune in Mars’ southern hemisphere. The sunlit side is also the lee side: the bright streaks are thin sand avalanches […]
August 28, 2017

Endless wind

A Piece of Mars: This 2.88×1.13 km (1.79×0.70 mi) scene shows quintessential Mars, with a 670 m diameter impact crater heavily modified by wind erosion. Both the crater floor and the surrounding terrain are covered by what is likely loosely-cemented […]
August 14, 2017

Wind and maybe water too

A Piece of Mars: Along the right side of this 0.5×0.5 km (0.31×0.31 mi) scene is the rim of a crater – the stripes are layers exposed (and then perhaps draped by falling ejecta) as the crater formed. To the […]
August 7, 2017

Exhumed dunes!

A Piece of Mars: The large dunes in the middle of this 375×450 m (0.23×0.28 mi) scene run along a valley (the small dunes at top and bottom are on high ground). What’s amazing about this is that the ends […]
July 31, 2017

Mars’ giant bubble wrap

A Piece of Mars: This 0.7×0.5 km (0.43x.31 mi) scene shows Mars’ giant yellow bubble wrap, with each “bubble” about 100 m across (seriously, don’t you want to pop them?). These are actually a type of dune called a “dome […]
July 25, 2017

Cross-strata or not?

A Piece of Mars: Sand dunes are one of the few sedimentary phenomena that leave behind layers that aren’t horizontal. They tend to have a characteristic lean to them (and we call them cross-strata). So when I see something that […]
July 17, 2017

Westward moving

A Piece of Mars: No great scientific insights today, just a really lovely view of bright TARs and some very dark sand in this 0.875×0.5 km (0.54×0.31 mi) scene. Only one major wind acts in this region, moving sediment toward […]