What are these blue spots on Mars?

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck

Stunning new photos captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter feature bright blue patches that, at first glance, look as though they could potentially be pools of water located in between the craters of the Red Planet.

Alas, they’re not Martian lakes that had somehow escaped notice until recently. Rather, the blue patches were created by the techniques used to process the images, according to Forbes. They are actually of dark sediments that collected over time and were given a bluish tint when they were originally taken by the orbiter’s High Resolution Stereo Camera last November.

While evidence that water did exist on the planet has already been found, it has come in the form of traces here and there – no massive lakes by which to open up a resort on the Red Planet, sadly. Even so, the actual story behind those blue patches is an interesting one in its own right.

How the wind on Mars caused sediments to accumulate

On Earth, the ESA explained, winds play a key role in shaping the environment, forming smooth sculpted rocks and dunes. Similar events occur on Mars as well, with strong winds travelling up to 100 km/hour causing sand and dust to be swept up and blown at high speeds across the surface of the planet. These dust storms can last for several days or even many weeks.

During these storms, the winds cause erosion and smoothing, gradually eating away at the surface of the planet and shaping the surroundings over a span of several million years. Evidence of such processes can be seen in the Mars Express image, which depicts part of a crater-filled area of the Red Planet known as the Arabia Terra region.

Each of the craters shown in the images varies in size and age, and each of them was caused by a previous impact on the surface of the planet. In addition, all of them have experienced different degrees of erosion, with some still possessing defined outer rims and others being smoother and all but featureless, appearing to merge with their surroundings due to wind erosion.

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