Martian mountains amidst a deep sea of sand
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 9, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white dot on the overview map above marks the location, inside the deep enclosed and very large 130-mile-wide depression dubbed Juventae Chasma.
The mountain in the picture raises above the sand sea that surrounds it from 1,000 to 2,300 feet, depending on direction, as the downhill grade of the sand sea is to the east. Thus, on the west the mountain rises less, while on the east the height is the greatest.
The inset illustrates the extent of the sand sea. It covers the ground for many miles in all directions. The way the sand surrounds these mountains suggests the prevailing winds blow from the west to the east. In fact, the facts suggest that this sand is volcanic ash that was blown into Juventae from many eruptions that occurred over time to the west, where it got trapped. The wind and gravity deposited the sand into the 20,000 to 25,000-foot-deep chasm, where the wind was insufficient to lift it out again.
One wonders how deep that sand sea might be. The lack of any surface features at all suggests it could be quite deep, burying everything but the highest peaks. In fact, if a geologist could drill a core through that sand I suspect he or she might be able to document the entire eruption history of much of Mars.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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 image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 9, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white dot on the overview map above marks the location, inside the deep enclosed and very large 130-mile-wide depression dubbed Juventae Chasma.
The mountain in the picture raises above the sand sea that surrounds it from 1,000 to 2,300 feet, depending on direction, as the downhill grade of the sand sea is to the east. Thus, on the west the mountain rises less, while on the east the height is the greatest.
The inset illustrates the extent of the sand sea. It covers the ground for many miles in all directions. The way the sand surrounds these mountains suggests the prevailing winds blow from the west to the east. In fact, the facts suggest that this sand is volcanic ash that was blown into Juventae from many eruptions that occurred over time to the west, where it got trapped. The wind and gravity deposited the sand into the 20,000 to 25,000-foot-deep chasm, where the wind was insufficient to lift it out again.
One wonders how deep that sand sea might be. The lack of any surface features at all suggests it could be quite deep, burying everything but the highest peaks. In fact, if a geologist could drill a core through that sand I suspect he or she might be able to document the entire eruption history of much of Mars.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID 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. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
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.
Ah, another badly worn Martian pyramid. (Joke)
Endless sand with few distinguishing landmarks or details, it’s interesting to see very few dunes, mostly a few ripples around the rock. So smooth looking but probably very deceptive. Even so I can imagine a rover in this basin taking years to cross without photographing a single rock.
Looking at the larger picture in the original link, I can see the hard pan base rock where the sand has blown away showing a few old Craters in the lower left. It appears the dune rises a 1000 feet? into the air before it dips down again at the rock. Another feature that would seem overwhelming if you were to see it in person because of its size.