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Summary
| Description |
What creates these picturesque dark streaks on Mars? No one knows for sure. A leading hypothesis is that streaks like these are caused by fine grained sand sliding down the banks of troughs and craters. Pictured above, dark sand appears to have flowed hundreds of meters down the slopes of Acheron Fossae. The sand appears to flow like a liquid around boulders, and, for some reason, lightens significantly over time. This sand flow process is one of several which can rapidly change the surface of Mars, with other processes including dust devils, dust storms, and the freezing and melting of areas of ice. Acheron Fossae is a 700 kilometre long trough in the Diacria quadrangle of Mars. |
| Date | |
| Source | HiRISE |
| Author | HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA |
The above image was taken by the HiRise camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which has been orbiting Mars since 2006. Local Mars time: 3:25 PM. Latitude (centered): 37.3 °. Longitude (East): 229.1 ° Range to target site: 290.4 km. Original image scale range: 58.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~174 cm across are resolved. Map projected scale: 50 cm/pixel and north is up. Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR. Emission angle: 0.9 °. Phase angle: 51.8 °. Solar incidence angle:. 51 °, with the Sun about 39 ° above the horizon . Solar longitude: 144.7 °, Northern Summer.
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This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) |  |
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 12:00, 1 March 2010 | | 2,560 × 1,920 (4.2 MB) | Originalwana | {{Information |Description={{en|1=What creates these picturesque dark streaks on Mars? No one knows for sure. A leading hypothesis is that streaks like these are caused by fine grained sand sliding down the banks of troughs and craters. Pictured a |
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