Dunes and Dust Devils

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Caption:

Context image

This unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria has both a sand sheet with dune forms and a multitude of dust devil tracks. The linear and scalloped dark marks are created by dust devils removing surface dust and revealing the darker surface beneath the dust. It is common for sand to accumulate in the floor of crater. Changes in the wind occur due to the crater shape and possible internal peak or pit features. As the winds are deflected by this type of feature the sand and dust carried by the wind will settle out. The extensive number of dust devil tracks indicate that surface winds are pervasive in this region.

Orbit Number: 75246 Latitude: -58.8609 Longitude: 172.829 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-12-01 00:11

Background Info:

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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