Science Article #14

Martian Dune Mystery Solved By Bouncing Sand Grains

Grossman, L. “Martian Dune Mystery Solved by Bouncing Sand Grains.” Wired –Science. February 11, 2010. From http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/martian-dune-mystery-solved-by-bouncing-sand-grains/

The planet Mars have perplexed many scientists for many reasons. It is known that the atmosphere on Mars is very thin so it does not have the weather or the wind-blown erosions like we do. Because of this fact, it is a mystery how some of Mar’s landscape was transformed. Recently, scientists have discovered how a particular sandy surface known as Barchan dunes was formed. The study found that the formation of sand dunes and ripples that are normally formed by winds.

In fact, when Mars atmosphere experiences any winds, the sand grains are flown until they are dropped to the surface. Take golfing for example. What happens when you swing a golf ball in the air and it lands on sand? It causes a ripple effect. Once the particles or sand grains are in the air, they increase in speed so when they land, it actually “slams” itself on the surface. Thus, over period of time, the sand grains had made dunes from these impacts. However, these sand grains do not need a lot of winds on Mars for saltation – a process formed by sand particles taking short wind-borne hops.

This study had concluded how some of its sand dunes are formed but there are several other mysteries of Mars yet to be discovered.