Avalanches on Mars!

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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for 18 years, and its journey to reach this distant planet took approximately 7 months. The main objective of this probe is to map Mars.

The MRO has successfully completed its mission but has also captured breathtaking images. Below, you can see the marks left by a dust avalanche on the surface of Mars:

Here is another very visible mark of a landslide on Mars. The first picture shows a distant view of a crater. The second one zooms in on a part of the crater flank where the avalanche tracks are located.

But these are not the most incredible photos that were taken by MRO. You will see below four photographs that were taken at the exact moment when such landslides occurred. It is therefore possible to see the dust cloud formed by such events.

These images, beyond the perfect timing, show that Mars is not static and that even through photos we can see all the activity that takes place there.

All the phenomena responsible for its avalanches are not yet well known; although the disappearance of carbon dioxide frost, the expansion and contraction of ice in response to temperature differences, a Mars earthquake or meteorite impact nearby, and vibrations caused by other nearby falls, are all possible factors.

I leave you with this very large image of the surface of Mars where at least four rockfalls are visible in the same place on the same cliff. I’ll let you find them (Open the image in a new tab, otherwise you won’t see anything – right-click > open image in a new tab).