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When Martian Winds Become Sandblasters


Mars Express has captured stunning images of wind sculpted terrain near the planet’s equator, revealing how Martian winds act as a sandblaster across geological timescales. The spacecraft’s high resolution camera spotted amazing ridges called yardangs, features carved by sand carrying winds that extend tens of kilometres across the surface. These dramatic erosional features share the landscape with impact craters and ancient lava flows, creating a fusion of three different geological forces that together tell the story of Mars’s violent and dynamic past.

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Sandblasters

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