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MONDAY’S THEMIS IMAGE: Hesperia Planum

This image is located in the eastern portion of a region on Mars called Hesperia Planum, which is in the cratered southern highlands of Mars. Immediately visible in the image is the dark barchan type dunes that are being blown against the southeast wall of the crater. The position of the dunes in the crater as well as the southeast facing slipfaces on the dunes indicate that the local winds blow primarily towards the southeast. An interesting aspect of this image is the relatively brighter ripple like features that are visible just to the southeast of the dune field. These features are smaller than the dark dunes, but can be clearly seen in the full resolution image. Wind processes also probably formed these features and their orientation also indicates a northwest-southeast wind direction. It is not clear if these features are actively being formed by the wind or if they were only active at some point in the Martian past. Mars is a very dry, desert-like environment and the wind plays a very important role in shaping the present landscape.