Science and Exploration

Western Medusa Fossae Formation: Dust and Dunes On Mars

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
NASA
February 27, 2023
Filed under , ,
Western Medusa Fossae Formation: Dust and Dunes On Mars
Western Medusa Fossae Formation
NASA

This beautifully contrasted infrared-color image shows an area approximately 600 by 900 meters.

This is a close-up of the western Medusa Fossae formation where we can see dust-covered rocky, bedrock surfaces (beige) and a bluish-tinted sand sheet that transitions into several dunes.

The bluish sand is thought to originate from the bedrock that lies beneath the dust. If true, this has implications for the composition of the formation, which has been highly debated over the years.

ID: ESP_041864_1745
date: 2 July 2015
altitude: 268 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_041864_1745NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.