Dry Ice Sled Streaks on Mars
Explanation:
What creates these long and nearly straight grooves on Mars?
Dubbed
linear gullies, they appear on the sides of some sandy slopes during Martian
spring, have nearly constant width, extend for as long as two kilometers, and have
raised banks along their sides.
Unlike most water flows, they do not appear to have areas of dried debris at the
downhill end.
A leading hypothesis -- actually
being tested here on Earth -- is that these linear gullies are caused by chunks
of carbon dioxide ice
(
dry ice)
breaking off and sliding down hills while
sublimating into gas, eventually completely evaporating into thin air.
If true, these natural
dry-ice sleds may well provide
future adventurers a smooth ride on cushions of escaping carbon dioxide.
The
above recently-released image was taken in 2006 by the
HiRISE camera on board the
NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently orbiting Mars.
Astrophysicists:
Browse 600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
