Land of Martian slope streaks
Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on May 21, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a typical example of the many slope streaks found in the rough and very broken region north of the Martian volcano Olympus Mons, the largest in the solar system.
See this May 2019 post for a detailed explanation of slope streaks. While they appear to be avalanches, they do not change the topography of the ground, sometimes flow over rises, and appear to be a phenomenon entirely unique to Mars. While no theory as yet explains them fully, the two most favored postulate that they are either dust avalanches or the percolation of a brine of chloride and/or perchlorate in a thin layer several inches thick close to the surface. In both cases the streak is mostly only a stain on the surface that fades with time.
The location of this cool image however tells us something more about them.
The small white box north of Olympus Mons marks this image’s location. The red boxes mark other high resolution images taken by MRO.
The image is within a region dubbed Lycus Sulci, which to my eye looks like a gigantic rough moraine, but rather than being the leading edge of a glacier, on Mars it was the leading edge of flood of lava coming down from Olympus Mons. This is a mere guess, however, because the formation process that created Lycus Sulci has not been worked out.
Lycus Sulci, ranging from 18 to 31 degrees north latitude, sits almost entirely in the dry equatorial regions of Mars, where little or no near surface ice is generally found. This lack of ice might explain the overall lack of interest in this area, as not many high resolution photos have been taken inside Lycus Sulci, with almost none in the region near this particular cool image.
And yet, what almost all of the photos that have been taken show are slope streaks. This dry mountainous rough terrain and climate seems ideal for the creation of these mysterious stains. While we do not yet have a good explanation for their formation, this simple fact should someday help scientists figure it out.
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.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
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Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on May 21, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a typical example of the many slope streaks found in the rough and very broken region north of the Martian volcano Olympus Mons, the largest in the solar system.
See this May 2019 post for a detailed explanation of slope streaks. While they appear to be avalanches, they do not change the topography of the ground, sometimes flow over rises, and appear to be a phenomenon entirely unique to Mars. While no theory as yet explains them fully, the two most favored postulate that they are either dust avalanches or the percolation of a brine of chloride and/or perchlorate in a thin layer several inches thick close to the surface. In both cases the streak is mostly only a stain on the surface that fades with time.
The location of this cool image however tells us something more about them.
The small white box north of Olympus Mons marks this image’s location. The red boxes mark other high resolution images taken by MRO.
The image is within a region dubbed Lycus Sulci, which to my eye looks like a gigantic rough moraine, but rather than being the leading edge of a glacier, on Mars it was the leading edge of flood of lava coming down from Olympus Mons. This is a mere guess, however, because the formation process that created Lycus Sulci has not been worked out.
Lycus Sulci, ranging from 18 to 31 degrees north latitude, sits almost entirely in the dry equatorial regions of Mars, where little or no near surface ice is generally found. This lack of ice might explain the overall lack of interest in this area, as not many high resolution photos have been taken inside Lycus Sulci, with almost none in the region near this particular cool image.
And yet, what almost all of the photos that have been taken show are slope streaks. This dry mountainous rough terrain and climate seems ideal for the creation of these mysterious stains. While we do not yet have a good explanation for their formation, this simple fact should someday help scientists figure it out.
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.
Could the streaks be the caused by removal of the topmost layer of dust, exposing the darker, harder base? Similar to the way water drops on a car windshield will gather until heavy enough to slide down.
This streak collection is one of my favorites of your cool images. Well worth seeing the full image. Thanks!