Avalanche to the east of Gale Crater on Mars
Click for original picture.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 19, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows an avalanche that slumped downward out of the material that forms the interior western wall of an unnamed 25-mile-wide crater about 100 miles east of Gale Crater, where Curiosity has been roving for more than a decade.
The scientists call these types of Martian avalanches “mass-wasting events”, since the entire mass of the cliff moves downhill in a chunk, rather than as a pile of rocks that grows in size and strength as it picks up material on its way down.
It is not clear how old this slide is. A lot of the material on this slope appears to be Martian dust, some of which has flowed into the avalanche material after it had slide downhill.
The white dot to the east of Gale Crater in the inset of the overview map to the right marks the location of this landslide. Notice how the terrain east of Gale appears to be similar to chaos terrain, with a slight suggestion that the downhill grade is to the east. In the mid-latitudes of Mars such chaos terrain is often filled with glacial features, with the shaping of this terrain possibly linked to the long-term motion of that ice.
Here in the dry equatorial regions however the evidence suggests there is no near surface ice. If this landslide occurred because of an underground layer of ice, that ice has long ago sublimated away. If so, the slide is very old. Moreover, the chaos terrain might be as old if not older, coming from a time when Mars’ equatorial regions were not dry.
It is also possible that the slide is young, and was caused simply because of the structurally weakness in the alluvial fill that makes up this slope. Much of the dust in this area likely came from the nearby Medusae Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars, from which some scientists believe most of the dust on Mars originates.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Click for original picture.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 19, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows an avalanche that slumped downward out of the material that forms the interior western wall of an unnamed 25-mile-wide crater about 100 miles east of Gale Crater, where Curiosity has been roving for more than a decade.
The scientists call these types of Martian avalanches “mass-wasting events”, since the entire mass of the cliff moves downhill in a chunk, rather than as a pile of rocks that grows in size and strength as it picks up material on its way down.
It is not clear how old this slide is. A lot of the material on this slope appears to be Martian dust, some of which has flowed into the avalanche material after it had slide downhill.
The white dot to the east of Gale Crater in the inset of the overview map to the right marks the location of this landslide. Notice how the terrain east of Gale appears to be similar to chaos terrain, with a slight suggestion that the downhill grade is to the east. In the mid-latitudes of Mars such chaos terrain is often filled with glacial features, with the shaping of this terrain possibly linked to the long-term motion of that ice.
Here in the dry equatorial regions however the evidence suggests there is no near surface ice. If this landslide occurred because of an underground layer of ice, that ice has long ago sublimated away. If so, the slide is very old. Moreover, the chaos terrain might be as old if not older, coming from a time when Mars’ equatorial regions were not dry.
It is also possible that the slide is young, and was caused simply because of the structurally weakness in the alluvial fill that makes up this slope. Much of the dust in this area likely came from the nearby Medusae Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars, from which some scientists believe most of the dust on Mars originates.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
From the orientation of a few small dunes above and in the craters, it appears the wind blows towards this area depositing the dust that eventually overcomes the stability of the slope causing what appears to be an avalanche similar to snow… Except it doesn’t travel as far in low gravity.
I do enjoy these pictures, constantly reminding myself that this is a different planet! And to think it wasn’t so long ago they truly believed Mars had canals…