Dune migration and slip face advancement in the Rabe Crater dune field, Mars

Abstract

Eight overlapping images of a dune slip face in Rabe Crater (35°E, 44°S) from the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera show changes interpreted to be multiple grainflow events that would indicate present-day sand saltation and dune migration. New occurrences of these features appear sporadically throughout late southern summer and early fall, and then no further changes occur throughout winter. By the following summer the pattern of old streaks had been almost completely covered by new dark streaks. Assuming that this activity is typical from year to year, migration rates are estimated to be on the order of 1-2 cm per martian year, produced by south to southeasterly winds that blow mostly during the southern spring and early summer. This slow migration rate is consistent with a present-day sediment state that is either transport or availability limited. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.