PIA06299: Bright Dust Devil Tracks


Bright Dust Devil Tracks

Caption:

9 June 2004
Martian dust devils sometimes disrupt thin coatings of surface dust to create dark streak patterns on the surface. However, not all dust devils make streaks, and not all dust devil streaks are dark. In Syria Planum, the streaks are lighter than the surrounding plains. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows an example from Syria near 8.8°S, 103.6°W. The thin coating of surface dust in this region is darker than the substrate beneath it. This is fairly unusual for Mars, because most dust is bright. This image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the left/lower left.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instrument Host Mars Global Surveyor
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Detector
Extra Keywords Dust, Grayscale
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2004-06-09
Date in Caption 2004-06-09
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06299
Identifier PIA06299