Inverted Channel and Yardangs in Aeolis Mensae
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Inverted Channel and Yardangs in Aeolis Mensae
PSP_009966_1735  Science Theme: Sedimentary/Layering Processes
This image shows wind-eroded layered deposits in Aeolis Mensae. Aeolis Mensae is located close to the volcanic region of Elysium and near the boundary of the high-standing, heavily cratered southern hemisphere and the low, sparsely-cratered plains that cover most of the northern hemisphere of Mars.

Aeolis Mensae is well-known for its unusual features commonly related to wind activity on the planet's surface. Near the bottom of the image is a long, sinuous, flat-topped feature that has been exposed by wind erosion. This sinuous ridge is one of several similar ridges in the region that are believed to be former stream channels now preserved in inverted relief.

On Earth, inverted relief occurs when formerly low-lying areas become elevated because the original depression is filled with materials, such as lava, that are more resistant to erosion than the surrounding terrain. In the case of stream channels, the streambed may contain larger rocks and/or sediments that have been cemented by chemicals precipitating from flowing water that remain, while adjacent fine material is blown away by the wind. In this location, it is most likely that water once flowed through this channel and deposited sediments that eventually filled the channel and became cemented. Over time, wind eroded the surrounding surface leaving the remnant channel exposed as a raised flat-topped ridge.

On either side of the inverted channel and throughout the image are several linear, streamlined ridges oriented roughly south to north. These are yardangs, streamlined remnants of material shaped by the action of sand-blown sediments that eroded away weaker material. Landforms such as these are common in desert areas on Earth. The orientation of the yardangs indicates the primary wind direction.



Written by: Maria Banks  (5 November 2008)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_010111_1735.
 
Acquisition date
11 September 2008

Local Mars time
15:33

Latitude (centered)
-6.344°

Longitude (East)
151.096°

Spacecraft altitude
267.1 km (166.0 miles)

Original image scale range
53.5 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~160 cm across are resolved

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50 cm/pixel and North is up

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Equirectangular

Emission angle
1.5°

Phase angle
60.2°

Solar incidence angle
59°, with the Sun about 31° above the horizon

Solar longitude
125.4°, Northern Summer

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North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  34.4°
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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.