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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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