Plains in North Sinus Meridiani

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Posted on: Friday, 16 November 2007, 07:49 CST Download full size image

This observation shows plains speckled with craters in north Sinus Meridiani, a dark albedo feature.

Several of the craters have wind streaks off their southwest rims. This indicates that recently, the wind has been dominantly coming from the northeast in this region. As the wind blows, it erodes material off the crater rims, and this material can be deposited downwind, as seen here in the form of streaks. Eventually the craters' rims will be completely eroded and just faint circular features will remain.

There is a bright mesa at the top of the image that also has a very prominent wind streak. The subimage (approximately 1 kilometer across) shows the bright mesa located at the top right of the image. Part of the wind streak is visible in the lower left.

This streak can also be seen in color, where the streak appears redder than its surroundings. Differences in color result from differences in composition and/or particle sizes. The western edge of the mesa appears in this color product to be tinted red, similar in tone to the mesa's wind streak.

More Images

Mars
Echus Chasma Perspective View.The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express has returned images of Ech...

---

Universe
Titan: Banded Moon.This Cassini spacecraft view of Titan shows banding in the atmosphere of the moon's northern hemi...

---