Tag Archives: Medusae Fossae Formation

HiRISE: Polygonal ridges near the Medusae Fossae formation

Posted on March 2, 2018 by rburnham

Polygonal ridges near the Medusae Fossae formation. The major hypothesis for these ridges is that they are basaltic, made from intruding lavas. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

New look at old data points to subsuface equatorial ice

Posted on September 28, 2017 by rburnham

Scientists taking a new look at older data from NASA’s longest-operating Mars orbiter have discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator — a mysterious signature in a region of the Red Planet where planetary scientists figure ice shouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Water ice is buried near Mars equator in small areas

Posted on August 17, 2017 by rburnham

A re-analysis of data from the Neutron Spectrometer on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has nearly doubled the data’s resolution. The higher-resolution data show that small deposits of water ice lie buried at shallow depths near the martian equator in several … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Dark sediments in the Medusae Fossae Formation

Posted on June 7, 2017 by rburnham

Dark sediments in the Medusae Fossae Formation. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Blade-like ridges on Mars have diverse origins

Posted on January 25, 2017 by rburnham

Thin, blade-like walls, some as tall as a 16-story building, dominate a previously undocumented network of intersecting ridges on Mars, found in images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The simplest explanation for these impressive ridges is that lava flowed into … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Wind carved rock

Posted on October 19, 2016 by rburnham

The distinctively fluted surface and elongated hills in this image in Medusae Fossae are caused by wind erosion of a soft fine-grained rock. Called yardangs, these features are aligned with the prevailing wind direction. This wind direction would have dominated … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

A mud flow on Mars?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by rburnham

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, October 31, 2015: Lionel Wilson (Lancaster University, UK) and Peter Mouginis-Mark (University of Hawaii). Image 1 shows a distinctive flow deposit southwest of the Cerberus Fossae on Mars.  The flow source is a ~20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Sand filled crater, Medusae Fossae region

Posted on October 23, 2015 by rburnham

Sand filled crater in the Medusae Fossae region. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Dust and dunes in western Medusae Fossae

Posted on September 18, 2015 by rburnham

This beautifully contrasted infrared-color image shows an area approximately 600 by 900 meters. This is a close-up of the western Medusa Fossae formation where we can see dust-covered rocky, bedrock surfaces (beige) and a bluish-tinted sand sheet that transitions into … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Dunes in Medusae Fossae formation

Posted on March 9, 2015 by rburnham

The dark dunes in the western Medusae Fossae formation provide some evidence of having a local origin. This image shows no large dunes, but many of the dark sand patches cover slopes up to discrete layers. It is possible that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off