MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-541, 11 November 2003

In some regions of Mars, dust devils create streaks by disrupting or removing thin coatings of fine, bright dust from the surface. This summertime view of terrain in southern Noachis Terra, acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), provides an example. Streak patterns such as these are commonly created during the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere; in autumn and winter they are often erased--perhaps by deposition of a new coating of dust--and then a completely different pattern is formed the following spring and summer. This image is located near 59.6°S, 328.8°W. The picture is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.