Tantalus Fossae
Encyclopedia
Tantalus Fossae is a group of troughs in the Arcadia quadrangle
of Mars, located at 50.9° north latitude and 97.5° west longitude. They are about 2,400 km long and was named after an albedo feature at 35N, 110W. Troughs, like this one are called Fossae on Mars. More information and more examples can be found at Fossa (geology)
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. A thin coating of fine bright dust covers most of the Martian surface. When a dust devil goes by it blows away the dust coating and exposes the underlying dark surface. Dust devils have been seen from the ground and from high overhead from orbit. They have even blown the dust off of the solar panels of the two Rovers on Mars, thereby greatly extending their lives. The twin Rovers were designed to last for 3 months, instead they have lasted more than five years and are still going. The pattern of the tracks have been shown to change every few months. The image below from HiRISE shows some dust devil tracks in the shape of X's. You may need to click on the image for a larger view to see the tracks clearly.
Arcadia quadrangle
The Arcadia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Research Program. The quadrangle is located in the north-central portion of Mars’ western hemisphere and covers 240° to 300° east longitude and 30° to 65° north latitude...
of Mars, located at 50.9° north latitude and 97.5° west longitude. They are about 2,400 km long and was named after an albedo feature at 35N, 110W. Troughs, like this one are called Fossae on Mars. More information and more examples can be found at Fossa (geology)
Fossa (geology)
Fossa is a term used in planetary geology to describe a long, narrow depression on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, such as a planet or moon...
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Dust Devil Tracks
Many areas on Mars experience the passage of giant dust devilsDust Devils
Dust Devils is an independently published role-playing game set in the Old West, written by Matt Snyder. It was voted the 2002 Indie RPG of the Year; it also won the Best Synergy of Game and Rules category, as well as placing in the Best Production and Most Innovative Game categories.The game uses...
. A thin coating of fine bright dust covers most of the Martian surface. When a dust devil goes by it blows away the dust coating and exposes the underlying dark surface. Dust devils have been seen from the ground and from high overhead from orbit. They have even blown the dust off of the solar panels of the two Rovers on Mars, thereby greatly extending their lives. The twin Rovers were designed to last for 3 months, instead they have lasted more than five years and are still going. The pattern of the tracks have been shown to change every few months. The image below from HiRISE shows some dust devil tracks in the shape of X's. You may need to click on the image for a larger view to see the tracks clearly.