Detail View: NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection: Arabian Slope Streaks

Title: 
Arabian Slope Streaks
Original Caption Released with Image: 
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-508, 9 October 2003 Arabia Terra is a vast, heavily cratered region in the martian northern hemisphere. Much of Arabia Terra is thickly blanketed by dust. From time to time, on steep slopes, the dust will avalanche or slide downhill, creating a streak. The majority of slope streaks are darker than their surroundings, but not all of them are dark. In Arabia, it is common to find bright and dark slope streaks, and to find them together. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example, taken from a crater near 10.5°N, 318.4°W. Why some streaks are bright and others are dark is not yet known. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the left.
Image Credit: 
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Produced By: 
Malin Space Science Systems
Mission: 
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Spacecraft: 
Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
Target Name: 
Mars
Is a satellite of: 
Sol (our sun)
Instrument: 
Mars Orbiter Camera
Product Size: 
837 samples x 1256 lines
facet_what: 
Crater
facet_where: 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when: 
October 2003
facet_when_year: 
2003
Image #: 
PIA04790
UID: 
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA04790
original url: 
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04790