Wavy crescent ridges on Mars
Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on November 19, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the science team has labeled “Crescentic forms,” which in some ways resemble crescents that I featured in a cool image back in November 2020.
Unlike those earlier crescents, today’s are linked together to form a longer wavy line. Furthermore, today’s crescents include some positive relief, with some parts standing above the surrounding terrain. The earlier crescents were entirely carved out of the ground, forming depressions.
And yet, the method of formation for both must be somewhat similar. I say this based on their location, as shown in the overview map below.
The white cross marks the location of the today’s image, inside the westernmost section of Medusae Fossae Formation, about 250 miles east of the lander InSight and about 280 miles northeast of Curiosity in Gale Crater. The earlier crescents were also inside the Medusae Fossae, but in its eastern sections about 2,300 miles away.
Medusae Fossae is the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars, and is believed to be the source of most of the planet’s ubiquitous dust. Thus, these crescents are thought to be created when the prevailing winds carve out scallops within the fossae’s thick dust layers as the wind is forced to bend around some more solid object buried in that dust. Think of the water in river rapids flowing around a boulder.
What makes today’s crescents intriguing are their two differing features, their positive relief and the linkage of several into a line. Apparently, there is not as much volcanic ash in this part of Medusae, and instead of carved depressions we’re are seeing the fossil remains of much older wind scallops. Once they were empty, but then became filled with material that ended up harder and more erosion resistant than the dust/ash that surrounded it. When the dust/ash blew away, it left behind that hardened material, the wavy ridges we see today.
At least, that’s my theory. And you should know, I wouldn’t bet a dime on it being correct.
NOTE: Posted late due to the site maintenance today.
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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Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on November 19, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the science team has labeled “Crescentic forms,” which in some ways resemble crescents that I featured in a cool image back in November 2020.
Unlike those earlier crescents, today’s are linked together to form a longer wavy line. Furthermore, today’s crescents include some positive relief, with some parts standing above the surrounding terrain. The earlier crescents were entirely carved out of the ground, forming depressions.
And yet, the method of formation for both must be somewhat similar. I say this based on their location, as shown in the overview map below.
The white cross marks the location of the today’s image, inside the westernmost section of Medusae Fossae Formation, about 250 miles east of the lander InSight and about 280 miles northeast of Curiosity in Gale Crater. The earlier crescents were also inside the Medusae Fossae, but in its eastern sections about 2,300 miles away.
Medusae Fossae is the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars, and is believed to be the source of most of the planet’s ubiquitous dust. Thus, these crescents are thought to be created when the prevailing winds carve out scallops within the fossae’s thick dust layers as the wind is forced to bend around some more solid object buried in that dust. Think of the water in river rapids flowing around a boulder.
What makes today’s crescents intriguing are their two differing features, their positive relief and the linkage of several into a line. Apparently, there is not as much volcanic ash in this part of Medusae, and instead of carved depressions we’re are seeing the fossil remains of much older wind scallops. Once they were empty, but then became filled with material that ended up harder and more erosion resistant than the dust/ash that surrounded it. When the dust/ash blew away, it left behind that hardened material, the wavy ridges we see today.
At least, that’s my theory. And you should know, I wouldn’t bet a dime on it being correct.
NOTE: Posted late due to the site maintenance today.
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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