The wind-scoured dusty and cratered dry tropics of Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on June 2, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and shows one small area in Martian equatorial regions where the main features are a dusty plain interspersed with craters, not entirely dissimilar to the Moon .
In the picture the northwest-to-southeast orientation of ridge-lines, plus the position of divots with their steep and deep end all on the northwest side, all suggest the prevailing winds here blow in the same direction, from the northwest to the southeast.
We are looking at a very ancient terrain. Many of these craters likely date from the early bombardment period of the solar system, just after the planets had formed but there was still a lot of objects around crashing into them.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, within Arabia Terra, the largest transition zone region on Mars between the northern lowland plains and the southern cratered highlands.
Much of Arabia shows evidence of shield volcano events as well as the possibility of lakes existing once in the distant past within many of its craters. There is also evidence of glacier activity that might have formed some of its meandering canyons.
This photo merely tells us that there is a lot of dust in Arabia Terra as well, piling up on the surface in many places only to be disturbed later by wind. Much of this dust is believed to have been blown halfway around the planet from the Medusa Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash field on Mars.
The picture also illustrates the dryness of Mars equatorial regions. This is the tropics of Mars, but unlike the Earth it is anything but wet.
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.
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 June 2, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and shows one small area in Martian equatorial regions where the main features are a dusty plain interspersed with craters, not entirely dissimilar to the Moon .
In the picture the northwest-to-southeast orientation of ridge-lines, plus the position of divots with their steep and deep end all on the northwest side, all suggest the prevailing winds here blow in the same direction, from the northwest to the southeast.
We are looking at a very ancient terrain. Many of these craters likely date from the early bombardment period of the solar system, just after the planets had formed but there was still a lot of objects around crashing into them.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, within Arabia Terra, the largest transition zone region on Mars between the northern lowland plains and the southern cratered highlands.
Much of Arabia shows evidence of shield volcano events as well as the possibility of lakes existing once in the distant past within many of its craters. There is also evidence of glacier activity that might have formed some of its meandering canyons.
This photo merely tells us that there is a lot of dust in Arabia Terra as well, piling up on the surface in many places only to be disturbed later by wind. Much of this dust is believed to have been blown halfway around the planet from the Medusa Fossae Formation, the largest volcanic ash field on Mars.
The picture also illustrates the dryness of Mars equatorial regions. This is the tropics of Mars, but unlike the Earth it is anything but wet.
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.
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.
Looking over the original picture, I see no distinguishing or unusual features. It’s a very bleak landscape. A high flat top Mesa in the lower right… A Future outpost location.
The only feature that is barely worth mentioning is a recent landslide? Or unusual massive slope streak from the cliffs edge into the large depression/basin on the upper left. Most of this area is in shadow and difficult to distinguish.