Dune formation on the present Mars

Abstract

We apply a model for sand dunes to calculate formation of dunes on Mars under the present Martian atmospheric conditions. We find that different dune shapes as those imaged by Mars Global Surveyor could have been formed by the action of sand-moving winds occuring on today's Mars. Our calculations show, however, that Martian dunes could be only formed due to the higher efficiency of Martian winds in carrying grains into saltation. The model equations are solved to study saltation transport under different atmospheric conditions valid for Mars. We obtain an estimate for the wind speed and migration velocity of barchan dunes at different places on Mars. From comparison with the shape of bimodal sand dunes, we find an estimate for the timescale of the changes in Martian wind regimes.

16 pages, 12 figures

References in corpus (8)

• A Continuum Saltation Model for Sand Dunes
• A scaling law for aeolian dunes on Mars, Venus, Earth, and for subaqueous ripples
• Minimal model for aeolian sand dunes
• Vegetation against dune mobility
• Minimal size of a barchan dune
• Aeolian transport layer
• On the shape of barchan dunes
• Saltation transport on Mars

Cited by in corpus (23)

• The physics of wind-blown sand and dust
• Difference in the wind speeds required for initiation versus continuation of sand transport on Mars: Implications for dunes and dust storms
• Flux saturation length of sediment transport
• The apparent roughness of a sand surface blown by wind from an analytical model of saltation
• A two-species continuum model for aeolian sand transport
• A comprehensive picture for binary interactions of subaqueous barchans
• Role of transverse displacements in the formation of subaqueous barchan dunes
• Discrete Element Method simulations of the saturation of aeolian sand transport
• Birth of a subaqueous barchan dune
• Shape evolution of numerically obtained subaqueous barchan dunes
• Horns of subaqueous barchan dunes: A study at the grain scale
• Morphodynamics of barchan-barchan interactions investigated at the grain scale
• Reply to "Comment on `Minimal size of a barchan dune' "
• Force distribution within a barchan dune
• Growth of barchan dunes of bidispersed granular mixtures
• Grain-scale computations of barchan dunes
• Barchan dunes cruising dune-size obstacles
• Barchan-barchan dune repulsion investigated at the grain scale
• On the effect of two-direction seasonal flows on barchans and the origin of occluded dunes
• Evolving dunes under flow reversals: from an initial heap toward an inverted dune
• Barchans interacting with dune-size obstacles: details of the fluid flow and motion of grains
• Resultant force on grains of a real sand dune: How to measure it?
• When barchan dunes move over craters