FastFind »   Lastname: doi:10.1029/ Year: | Advanced Search  

AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • Mars
  • Earth
  • dust devil
  • dust devil tracks
  • dust

Index Terms

  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Erosion and weathering
  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Surface materials and properties
  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Atmospheres
  • Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Physical properties of materials
  • Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mars

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 37, L14203, 6 PP., 2010
doi:10.1029/2010GL044016

First in-situ analysis of dust devil tracks on Earth and their comparison with tracks on Mars

D. Reiss

Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms−Universität, Münster, Germany

J. Raack

Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms−Universität, Münster, Germany

A. P. Rossi

International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany

G. Di Achille

Research and Scientific Support Department, ESTEC, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands

H. Hiesinger

Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms−Universität, Münster, Germany

In this study we report about the first in-situ analysis of terrestrial dust devil tracks (DDTs) observed in the Turpan depression desert in northwestern China. Passages of active dust devils remove a thin layer of fine grained material (< ∼63 μm), cleaning the upper surface of coarse sands (0.5–1 mm). This erosional process changes the photometric properties of the upper surface causing the albedo differences within the track to the surroundings. Measurements imply that a removal of an equivalent layer thickness of ∼2 μm is sufficient to form the dark dust devil tracks. Our terrestrial results are in agreement with the mechanism proposed by Greeley et al. (2005) for the formation of DDTs on Mars.

Received 17 May 2010; accepted 17 June 2010; published 22 July 2010.

Citation: Reiss, D., J. Raack, A. P. Rossi, G. Di Achille, and H. Hiesinger (2010), First in-situ analysis of dust devil tracks on Earth and their comparison with tracks on Mars, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14203, doi:10.1029/2010GL044016.

Cited By

Please wait one moment ...