Tag Archives: sand

HiRISE: The bedforms, they are a-changin’

Posted on July 30, 2018 by rburnham

The bedforms, they are a-changin’. This is in Zephyria Planum. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]

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HiRISE: The sand always gets through

Posted on July 12, 2018 by rburnham

The sand always gets through. There are also eroded layers here in Orson Welles Crater. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]

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HiRISE: Once in a blue dune

Posted on June 14, 2018 by rburnham

Sand dunes often accumulate in the floors of craters. In this region of Lyot Crater there is a field of classic barchan dunes. Just to the south of the group of barchan dunes is one large dune with a more … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Of sand, rock, and dust

Posted on May 24, 2018 by rburnham

Of sand, rock, and dust. There is some wonderful stratigraphy on display here in Meridiani Planum. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]

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THEMIS: Wind, dust, and gravity in Medusae Fossae

Posted on April 10, 2018 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, April 10, 2018. This VIS image is located in Medusae Fossae. Along the cliffside several dark streaks are visible. It is thought that these streaks mark the location where downslope movement of material has removed … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Horse playing the flute

Posted on January 19, 2018 by rburnham

Horse playing the flute. Maybe you can see a horse playing a flute here, but really this is a portion of the floor of Eberswalde Crater, at one time candidate landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory.  The light-toned bedrock … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Seasonal haloes and fractals

Posted on January 11, 2018 by rburnham

Seasonal haloes and fractals. In the spring, as the winter layer of dry ice covering the polar regions sublimates, there is a lot of action. The ice layer cracks and ruptures, and escaping gas lofts sand from the dunes above … Continue reading →

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RSLs are flowing sand, not water?

Posted on November 27, 2017 by rburnham

Dark features previously proposed as evidence for significant liquid water flowing on Mars have now been identified as granular flows, where sand and dust move rather than liquid water, according to a new article published in Nature Geoscience by the … Continue reading →

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Sublimation of water can levitate sediments for downslope movement

Posted on October 27, 2017 by rburnham

Scientists from The Open University (OU) have discovered a process that could explain the long-debated mystery of how land features on Mars are formed in the absence of significant amounts of water. Experiments carried out in the OU Mars Simulation … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Where does the sand come from?

Posted on October 18, 2017 by rburnham

The grains of sand that make up sand dunes on Earth and Mars have a hazardous existence because of the way that they travel. Wind-blown sand is lifted above the surface of each planet before crashing onto the ground and … Continue reading →

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