PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA06699: Light and Dark Slope Streaks
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark slope streaks, a common feature on slopes thickly-mantled by dust, especially in the Tharsis, Arabia, and western Amazonis regions of Mars.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  512 x 768 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-794  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA06699.tif (374.6 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA06699.jpg (27.72 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

21 July 2004
Dark slope streaks are a common feature on slopes thickly-mantled by dust, especially in the Tharsis, Arabia, and western Amazonis regions of Mars. Less common are light-toned slope streaks, which often occur in the same area as dark streaks. They are most common in Arabia Terra, and some are shown in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. Slope streaks are probably the result of sudden avalanches of extremely dry dust. The behavior of the avalanching dust is somewhat fluid-like, and new streaks have been observed to form over intervals of a few months to a Mars year. This image is located near 13.4°N, 340.3°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2004-07-21