Banded TARs in Iapygia
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Banded TARs in Iapygia
ESP_020782_1610  Science Theme: Impact Processes
The tropics of Mars are commonly littered with small bright ripples that were somehow shaped by the wind. Called "transverse aeolian ridges", or TARs, the features stand up to 6 meters tall and are spaced a few tens of meters apart. They are typically oriented transverse to modern day wind directions, and often found in channels and crater interiors. The physical process that produces these features is still mysterious. Most TARs display no evidence of internal structure, so it is difficult to discern exactly how they were formed.

While validating a HiRISE digital terrain model of the area, Sarah Mattson of the University of Arizona discovered these rare banded TARs in Iapygia, south of Syrtis Major. These features resemble TARs elsewhere on Mars, except that they show bands or layers on their northwest faces but fewer or none on the southeast sides.

One possible interpretation of this strange layering is that these particular TARs are made up of wedge-shaped layers, as shown in the schematic cross-section illustrating the inferred structure of the TARs. If this hypothesis is correct, it implies that the ripples grew vertically over time, as material accreted at the crests of the ridges. It also suggests that the banded slopes faced upwind.

This observation might provide a valuable clue to the formation of TARs elsewhere on Mars, if they have a similar internal structure but that structure cannot be seen because they are made up of homogeneous materials that are uniform in color.



Written by: Paul Geissler  (10 September 2014)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_021639_1610.
 
Acquisition date
01 January 2011

Local Mars time
15:39

Latitude (centered)
-18.707°

Longitude (East)
62.601°

Spacecraft altitude
258.8 km (160.8 miles)

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25.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~78 cm across are resolved

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2.5°

Phase angle
55.5°

Solar incidence angle
53°, with the Sun about 37° above the horizon

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209.4°, Northern Autumn

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Sub-solar azimuth:  5.1°
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POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.