Southern Hemisphere Crater with a Dune Field
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Southern Hemisphere Crater with a Dune Field
PSP_003695_1250  Science Theme: Fluvial Processes
This observation shows a Southern Hemisphere crater with gullies, dunes, periglacial modification, bright rock deposits, and dust devil tracks. Although these features are all common on Mars, there are not many places that have all of them together as viewed here.

The gullies at the top of the image are likely caused by wet debris flows. They have deposits of multiple ages. The gully on the left has bright deposits that have been modified by periglacial processes overlain by slightly darker deposits that have not been modified. Periglacial processes, such as seasonal freezing and thawing, are responsible for the polygonal fractures seen near the gullies and around the image.

The dark material in the center of the image is a dune field. There are several different sizes and orientations of dunes—these different orientations indicate that the dominant winds in the area have changed throughout time.

The dark streaks that criss-cross on the outskirts of the dune field are dust devil tracks. Dust devils are spinning cells of dust that travel across the Martian surface. As they move, they pick up and redeposit particles, as well as disturbing dust on the surface. They are responsible elsewhere on Mars for removing dust from the solar panels of the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which has helped to extend their missions way beyond the 90-day primary mission.

The cutout (750 meters across) shows dust devil tracks near the southwest edge of the dune field. The bright protruding rocks to the right of the image are either being exposed or being buried as the dunes migrate.

NB: The black rectangular feature near the top right of the full image is a data gap resulting from data transmission problems; it is not a real feature.

Written by: Kelly Kolb  (11 July 2007)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_004183_1250.
 
Acquisition date
11 May 2007

Local Mars time
15:36

Latitude (centered)
-54.592°

Longitude (East)
17.508°

Spacecraft altitude
250.7 km (155.8 miles)

Original image scale range
25.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~76 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.5°

Phase angle
57.1°

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

Solar longitude
235.8°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  23.4°
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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
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Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
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All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

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.