Ice Blocks Sliding Down Dunes
Russell Crater hosts a large dune field. In the spring, carbon dioxide ice on the gently sloping side of the dune sublimates (evaporates) first, leaving a warm sandy slope.
At the crest of the dune alcoves harbor ice longer, which then breaks off in large chunks and slides down, forming linear gullies. Sometimes the sliding ice block leaves a cloud of dust, as we see in this image.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_082249_1255
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science
@HiRISE Are we seeing the cloud still floating above the trail, or the dust settled to the ground?
@jurban Probabably a little of both. We've caught large dust clouds of avalanches "in the act" so it would not be impossible to interpret this as part of the lingering dust cloud.