NASA Mars Picture of the Day: Memnonia Sulci Yardangs

Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-934, 8 December 2004

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Yardangs are ridges formed by wind erosion. Most commonly,
they will form in sedimentary rocks or volcanic ash deposits
containing some amount of sand-sized grains (particles
of 0.0625 to 2.0 millimeters size, like the grains
in common table salt).
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
image shows a suite of yardangs in the Memnonia Sulci
region. The scene is located
near 9.3°S, 172.4°W, and covers an area
about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The ridges are illuminated
by sunlight from the upper left.

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology
built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission.
MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, California.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Mars Surveyor Operations Project
operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial
partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena,
California and Denver, Colorado.