The dust on Mars comes from one specific Martian region
Scientists have concluded that a large bulk of the dust that covers much of the Martian surface actually comes from one specific region called Medusae Fossae, located to the southwest of the planet’s giant volcanoes.
The dust that coats much of the surface of Mars originates largely from a single thousand-kilometer-long geological formation near the Red Planet’s equator, scientists have found.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications found a chemical match between dust in the Martian atmosphere and the surface feature, called the Medusae Fossae Formation. “Mars wouldn’t be nearly this dusty if it wasn’t for this one enormous deposit that is gradually eroding over time and polluting the planet, essentially,” said co-author Kevin Lewis, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary science at the Johns Hopkins University.
It is thought that Medusae Fossae is volcanic in origin.
Scientists have concluded that a large bulk of the dust that covers much of the Martian surface actually comes from one specific region called Medusae Fossae, located to the southwest of the planet’s giant volcanoes.
The dust that coats much of the surface of Mars originates largely from a single thousand-kilometer-long geological formation near the Red Planet’s equator, scientists have found.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications found a chemical match between dust in the Martian atmosphere and the surface feature, called the Medusae Fossae Formation. “Mars wouldn’t be nearly this dusty if it wasn’t for this one enormous deposit that is gradually eroding over time and polluting the planet, essentially,” said co-author Kevin Lewis, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary science at the Johns Hopkins University.
It is thought that Medusae Fossae is volcanic in origin.