One Martian ridge among many
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 30, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It is labeled as a “terrain sample,” so it was likely taken not as part of any specific research project but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule.
The subject this time was a series of parallel ridges. I have cropped the image to focus on the most distinct, which stands at its highest about 600 feet below the dune-filled hollows to the north and south. The streaks on its flanks are likely slope streaks, a phenomenon unique to Mars that is presently not entirely understood. Streaks appear like avalanches, but they do not change the topography at all, and in fact in some cases go up and over rises. It is believed they are related to dust events, but this is not yet confirmed.
Why focus on this ridge however? It isn’t as if this is the most stunning geology on Mars.
The overview map to the right explains my choice, with the white dot marking the location and the inset illustrating the vast badlands nature of this region. This one ridge is one of many tens of thousands covering a region extending more than 500 miles in all directions. This one ridge is near the northern edge, only about 20 miles from it, so the ridges here are smaller and less compacted.
The region is called Lycus Sulci, and it appears to have formed in conjunction with the eruptions that formed Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system. For some reason the flood lava that poured out from Olympus to cover this region did not solidify smoothly, as most Martian flood lava does. Instead, it appeared to form a rougher surface, reminiscent of the rough lava in Hawaii dubbed a’a (pronounced “ah-ah”, like it hurts to step on it). Only here on Mars the scale is gigantic.
At present scientists do not understand why Lycus Sulci formed as it did. What we do know is that it created one of Mars’ largest mountainous regions, difficult to traverse and explore. This will likely always be considered badlands by future colonists.
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
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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 August 30, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It is labeled as a “terrain sample,” so it was likely taken not as part of any specific research project but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule.
The subject this time was a series of parallel ridges. I have cropped the image to focus on the most distinct, which stands at its highest about 600 feet below the dune-filled hollows to the north and south. The streaks on its flanks are likely slope streaks, a phenomenon unique to Mars that is presently not entirely understood. Streaks appear like avalanches, but they do not change the topography at all, and in fact in some cases go up and over rises. It is believed they are related to dust events, but this is not yet confirmed.
Why focus on this ridge however? It isn’t as if this is the most stunning geology on Mars.
The overview map to the right explains my choice, with the white dot marking the location and the inset illustrating the vast badlands nature of this region. This one ridge is one of many tens of thousands covering a region extending more than 500 miles in all directions. This one ridge is near the northern edge, only about 20 miles from it, so the ridges here are smaller and less compacted.
The region is called Lycus Sulci, and it appears to have formed in conjunction with the eruptions that formed Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system. For some reason the flood lava that poured out from Olympus to cover this region did not solidify smoothly, as most Martian flood lava does. Instead, it appeared to form a rougher surface, reminiscent of the rough lava in Hawaii dubbed a’a (pronounced “ah-ah”, like it hurts to step on it). Only here on Mars the scale is gigantic.
At present scientists do not understand why Lycus Sulci formed as it did. What we do know is that it created one of Mars’ largest mountainous regions, difficult to traverse and explore. This will likely always be considered badlands by future colonists.
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.
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