Martian avalanches

This incredible photograph depicts avalanches near the north pole of Mars. Snapped by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, it's the first ever image of active avalanches on the Red Planet. From NASA:

"It really surprised me," says planetary scientist Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona who first noticed the avalanches in photos taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Feb. 19th. "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years..."

The full image reveals features as small as a desk in a strip of terrain 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide and more than 10 times that long, at 84 degrees north latitude. Reddish layers known to be rich in water ice make up the face of a steep slope more than 700 meters (2,300 feet) tall, running the length of the image.

"We don't know what set off these landslides," says Patrick Russell of the University of Berne, Switzerland, a HiRISE team collaborator. "We plan to take more images of the site through the changing Martian seasons to see if this kind of avalanche happens all year or is restricted to early spring."

Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

[#1 posted by Elysianartist , March 4, 2008 6:56 AM]

Fantastic!! A few years back I spent way too many hours poring over images from one of the Mars orbiters for what became known as "seeps"....what looked for all the world like liquid water flowing up and out of the martian surface....dark streaks cascading for thousands of mile across Mars....found some unbelievable things, but damned if I can find them now. Different computer.

[#2 posted by Samurai Gratz , March 4, 2008 7:19 AM]

I think the avalanche was probably caused by a Martian Yeti.

[#3 posted by Geno Z Heinlein , March 4, 2008 7:40 AM]

Does anyone here know when we might see new maps and new globes based on the MRO data? I google this now and then, and still find globes with data from Viking. :-)

[#4 posted by jody , March 4, 2008 8:13 AM]

Ski Mars!

[#5 posted by Elysianartist , March 4, 2008 8:23 AM]

#2 I believe the correct term is "marsquatch"....

[#6 posted by cinemajay , March 4, 2008 8:53 AM]

Elysian, aren't you the one who came up with that? You wouldn't be trying to copyright that by any chance?

;)

[#7 posted by Elysianartist , March 4, 2008 9:41 AM]

I thought I was...then some wisenheimers came on here and were all like " oh no...just Google Marsquatch, it's been around forever!!"

[#8 posted by ridingwithrobots , March 4, 2008 11:12 AM]

ELYSIANARTIST - Here are some of those streaks: (be sure to check out the wallpaper) http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006991_1905
The unbelievable avalanche photo was just one of thousands of gorgeous images that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team released yesterday.

[#9 posted by Takuan , March 4, 2008 11:47 AM]

fools! It's dust kicked up by the rail-launcher. Prepare!

[#10 posted by Antinous , March 4, 2008 3:01 PM]

It may look like a Marsquatch stampede to the uninformed observer, but it's clear to me that the giant face sneezed.

And did you really say 'wisenheimer'? That's brilliant.

[#11 posted by Elysianartist , March 5, 2008 7:53 AM]

I hereby declare sole ownership of the word "wisenheimer".....but everyone please feel free to use it.

[#12 posted by hazelwoodfarm , March 5, 2008 10:34 AM]

"A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years..." Uh, not too throw cold water on this event sighting, but how could anyone make such a stupid statement? "hasn't changed for millions of years", give me a break...

[#13 posted by Takuan , March 5, 2008 10:43 AM]

wait....you're serious,right?