New Avalanche in Action on Mars Captured by HiRISE

By Nancy Atkinson - February 06, 2012 10:12 PM UTC | Planetary Science

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Its avalanche season on Mars! And once again the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an avalanche taking place on a steep cliff or scarp in Mars' north polar region.

Back in 2008

, the HiRISE team created quite a sensation when it captured an avalanche in action on Mars. The high resolution camera did it

again in 2010

when springtime arrived once more. Now, another Mars year later, the team has been monitoring specific areas, looking for evidence of avalanches and they hit pay dirt – literally. This image of an avalanche taking place is from a

large image "strip"

from HiRISE taken in the extreme northern latitude of Mars, about 85 degrees north.

Dust, fine-grained ice and possibly large blocks of either regolith or rocks has detached from a steep, towering cliff and cascaded below. The HiRISE team say the occurrence of avalanches is spectacularly revealed by the accompanying clouds of fine material that continue to settle out of the air.

The avalanches are a result of carbon-dioxide frost that clings to the scarp in the darkness of winter, and when sunlight hits them in the spring they loosen up and fall.

These events happen mostly in the middle of spring, roughly equivalent to April to early May on Earth. And it seems this is a regular spring process at Mars' north pole that may be expected every year.

This image is part of the latest PDS release from HiRISE.

Hat tip: Jason Major and Discovery Space

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com