A Martian “glacier” made of volcanic ash
Click for full image.
Of the numerous cool images I’ve posted on Mars, many have documented the growing evidence that in the mid-latitudes of the Red Planet are many buried glaciers of ice.
Today’s cool image to the right, rotated, cropped and reduced to post here, shows something that at first might resemble the features one would expect from an ice glacier, but in reality is actually a flow of volcanic ash being blown almost like a river, with the prevailing winds blowing from the south to the north.
The photo was taken by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on November 1, 2020. The location, very close to the equator and in the transition zone dubbed the Cerberus Plains, is also smack dab between Mars’s biggest volcanoes, a region I like to dub Mars’s volcano country. The overview map below gives the context.
The white cross indicates the photo’s location, right in the midst of the Medusae Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars. This particular section of the Medusae ash deposit is located on a large uplifted region called Lucas Planum, a huge mound about 540 miles across and encompasses the eastern outlined section of the Medusae Fossae Formation where the white cross is placed.
I’ve posted a number of similar images showing the wind-blown erosion of the Medusae Fossae Formation (see for example here and here). The features all have a similar appearance, reminiscent of the carved mesas of the American southwest, but much softer and more sculpted. It is my impression that this is a region of softly piled sand and dust, easily dug but difficult to build on because the ground is weakly structured and so easily eroded. Imagine the difficulties of building a home on a beach.
Scientists today believe that much of the dust we find on Mars comes from the Medusae. What they don’t yet know is when it was created, from what volcano or volcanoes, and in how many different eruptions. To answer those questions will require in situ observations, including a gathering of many samples that all can be dated.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. The ebook can also be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $5.00). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Click for full image.
Of the numerous cool images I’ve posted on Mars, many have documented the growing evidence that in the mid-latitudes of the Red Planet are many buried glaciers of ice.
Today’s cool image to the right, rotated, cropped and reduced to post here, shows something that at first might resemble the features one would expect from an ice glacier, but in reality is actually a flow of volcanic ash being blown almost like a river, with the prevailing winds blowing from the south to the north.
The photo was taken by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on November 1, 2020. The location, very close to the equator and in the transition zone dubbed the Cerberus Plains, is also smack dab between Mars’s biggest volcanoes, a region I like to dub Mars’s volcano country. The overview map below gives the context.
The white cross indicates the photo’s location, right in the midst of the Medusae Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars. This particular section of the Medusae ash deposit is located on a large uplifted region called Lucas Planum, a huge mound about 540 miles across and encompasses the eastern outlined section of the Medusae Fossae Formation where the white cross is placed.
I’ve posted a number of similar images showing the wind-blown erosion of the Medusae Fossae Formation (see for example here and here). The features all have a similar appearance, reminiscent of the carved mesas of the American southwest, but much softer and more sculpted. It is my impression that this is a region of softly piled sand and dust, easily dug but difficult to build on because the ground is weakly structured and so easily eroded. Imagine the difficulties of building a home on a beach.
Scientists today believe that much of the dust we find on Mars comes from the Medusae. What they don’t yet know is when it was created, from what volcano or volcanoes, and in how many different eruptions. To answer those questions will require in situ observations, including a gathering of many samples that all can be dated.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. The ebook can also be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $5.00). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
A geologist spending spending an afternoon on Mars could do the job of 1000+ rovers.