Tag Archives: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

HiRISE: Layered sedimentary rocks in Meridiani Planum

Posted on February 14, 2019 by rburnham

Layered sedimentary rocks in Meridiani Planum. Ah, the loveliness of Meridiani. Meridiani Planum is a plain located south of Mars’ equator, in the westernmost portion of Terra Meridiani. It hosts a rare occurrence of gray crystalline hematite, which on Earth, … Continue reading →

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MARCI weather report, February 4-10, 2019.

Posted on February 13, 2019 by rburnham

Dust storm activity was at a minimum across the tropics and southern highlands of Mars last week. Local storms were observed along the seasonal north polar cap edge, while the polar vortex showed a wave-2 type structure, typical this time … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Shallow craters

Posted on February 13, 2019 by rburnham

Shallow craters. These shallow craters are located in the relatively flat Amazonis Planitia, situated between the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic provinces, to the west of Olympus Mons. HiRISE Picture of the Day archive [More at links]

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HiRISE: An Olympus Mons landslide

Posted on February 12, 2019 by rburnham

An Olympus Mons landslide. Olympus Mons is too large for HiRISE to capture in one image, but we can get very detailed closeups of parts of it. Here, we see a slope streak, possibly caused by a boulder rolling downhill … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: An elongated pit in Margaritifer Terra

Posted on February 11, 2019 by rburnham

An elongated pit in Margaritifer Terra. There is nothing more interesting than a feature that resembles a giant amoeba. Margaritifer Terra is an ancient, heavily cratered region, centered just south of the Martian equator, and covers 2600 kilometers at its … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Wind flow

Posted on February 8, 2019 by rburnham

The atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level is about 1 bar. On Mars, the pressure is 6 to 10 millibars, or 1/100th that of our planet. But even in this atmosphere, wind still flows around obstacles. In this image … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Layered history

Posted on February 8, 2019 by rburnham

The geologic history of a planet is written in its layers. Erosion of the surface reveals several shades of light toned layers, likely sedimentary deposits. The most recent geologic features are the narrow sand dunes snaking across the top of … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Exposing the rock in impact craters

Posted on February 7, 2019 by rburnham

In this complex crater (about 44-kilometers in diameter), we see bedrock in several locations from different depths in the crust. The central uplift exposes large fragments of green-toned bedrock that possibly originated from several kilometers beneath the surface. To the … Continue reading →

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MARCI weather report, Jan 28-Feb 3, 2019

Posted on February 6, 2019 by rburnham

Conditions across Mars were similar to that of the previous week. Dust hazes remained present over many southern hemisphere regions. Looking to the northern hemisphere, a couple of dust storms associated with the north polar hood were observed north of … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: A dune field near Nili Patera

Posted on February 6, 2019 by rburnham

In this image many sand dunes are visible. They have an elongated crescent form and are called “barchan dunes.” They are formed by the continuous action of the wind, blowing in the same direction, giving this particular shape. The orientation … Continue reading →

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