Which Came First?
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Which Came First?
ESP_042040_1275  Science Theme: Aeolian Processes
The workings of the Martian winds are visible in this image of sand dunes trapped inside an unnamed crater in southern Terra Cimmeria.

Many of the craters in the Southern Highlands of Mars contain sand dunes, and HiRISE is still in the process of mapping these dunes and determining how active they are today. So far, the dunes in these craters appear to be a mixed bunch, with some dunes actively advancing while others seem to be frozen in place. This image will be compared to a previous picture, to see how these dunes have changed since 2008.

The sand dunes are the large, branched ridges and dark patches that are conspicuous against the bright background, particularly in the northwest corner of our picture. There are also signs of two other wind-related processes: smaller, brighter ridges line the floor of the crater in regularly spaced rows. These are also windblown deposits, mysterious “transverse aeolian ridges” or TARs that are more common in the Martian tropics. Faint, irregular dark lines cross the dunes and the TARs, marking the tracks of dust devils that vacuum the surface during southern summer. So, which came first? We can untangle the history of these processes by looking at the picture more closely.

Over most of the image, it is obvious that the dark sand dunes bury the bright TARs, meaning that the sand dunes are younger than the TARs. But this relationship is not so clear for the southernmost dune we see in this picture. Here, the TARs look like they extend into the dune and merge with ripples on the dune’s surface, suggesting that the TARs might be younger than the dunes. The question can be resolved by carefully examining an enhanced color cutout. The TARs are brighter and redder than the sand dunes and this color persists on the crests of the TARs as the sand encroaches, burying the valleys first and then the slopes and finally the TAR crests. This tells us that the unusual appearance of the dune margin is caused by burial and exposure of the older TARs by the younger sand. Finally, you can trace the tracks of dust devils crossing over the dunes, telling us that they are younger than the dunes.

So, first came the TARs, next the dunes, and last the dust devils — probably within the last few months!

Written by: Paul Geissler  (16 September 2015)
 
Acquisition date
16 July 2015

Local Mars time
14:49

Latitude (centered)
-52.053°

Longitude (East)
33.270°

Spacecraft altitude
249.1 km (154.8 miles)

Original image scale range
50.5 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~152 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.2°

Phase angle
63.9°

Solar incidence angle
68°, with the Sun about 22° above the horizon

Solar longitude
13.6°, Northern Spring

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North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  51.3°
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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.