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PIA08031: Ripple Trap
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the margin of a lava flow on a cratered plain in the Athabasca Vallis region of Mars. Remarkably, the cratered plain in this scene is essentially free of bright, windblown ripples.
 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:  836 x 3135 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1421  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08031.tif (2.624 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08031.jpg (571.1 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:

3 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margin of a lava flow on a cratered plain in the Athabasca Vallis region of Mars. Remarkably, the cratered plain in this scene is essentially free of bright, windblown ripples. Conversely, the lava flow apparently acted as a trap for windblown materials, illustrated by the presence of the light-toned, wave-like texture over much of the flow. That the lava flow surface trapped windblown sand and granules better than the cratered plain indicates that the flow surface has a rougher texture at a scale too small to resolve in this image.

Location near: 10.7°N, 204.5°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Winter

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-04-03