It shows what appears to be "trees" amongst the sand dunes of Mars.
The photograph shows Martian sand dunes coated with a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, less than 240 miles from the planet's north pole.
However, the explanation is far less exciting:
The "trees" are really trails of debris caused by landslides as ice melts in Mar's spring.OK, the experts have spoken.
But I keep wondering - If the sand dunes are made of sand and are sand colored, and if the frozen carbon dioxide is whitish in color - why are those debris trails such a dark brown?
Just what sort of debris is it? If it's not sand or carbon dioxide - it is a different color - where does this debris come from?
And why do all those "landslides" just happen to slide in the same direction?
1 comment:
OK, I spent several minutes studying that picture, at full resolution, and here's what I think answers your questions:
First, it's a dune field which has been frozen all winter with CO2 ice, and is now "thawing out" as spring advances. Because of this, the tops of the dunes loosen so that the prevailing winds knock them off, creating the dark trails. Now, realize that the colors in the image are not "real" colors, but are processed somewhat. The best way to describe what you see is that the trails are darker than the surrounding surface, mostly due to the CO2 frost still covering it. The freshly uncovered sand is darker.
And, it does actually look like there's a plume from one of the trails rising in the air, in the left center of the image. Cool.
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