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Slope Streaks in Arabia

May 8, 2003
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows thick, dust-mantled regions of Arabia Terra, parts of Tharsis, Memnonia, and some of the knobby areas west of Amazonis Planitia on Mars. They most likely form by avalanching of loose, dry dust.

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-353, 7 May 2003

Light-, dark-, and intermediate-toned slope streaks are common in the thick, dust-mantled regions of Arabia Terra, parts of Tharsis, Memnonia, and some of the knobby areas west of Amazonis Planitia. They most likely form by avalanching of loose, dry dust, perhaps each triggered by a gust of wind. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired earlier this week (in May 2003), shows a plethora of slope streaks on the walls of an impact crater in east-central Arabia Terra near 13.0°N, 319.8°W. The image is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide; sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/lower left.

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