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Investigating the direction of yardangs on Mars to understand wind patterns for potential storm estimation. Yardangs formed by long-term winds eroding bedrock. Research based on image analysis from the Themis ASU website.
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Yardangs Little dippers Audrey Mumford Allee Miral Darrian Lambert Micah Chang Taijah Jones Tyler Hauser Period 4
Research Question What direction do yardangs usually point towards? Our question would be important for professional scientists to research because it could help us understand the direction of the winds on Mars which could later help us understand and estimate when and where storms might possibly happen. This question is interesting because our group thought yardangs where cool to look at and that people might want to know more about them. BY: Darrian and Audrey
Background Information Continuation . . . Yardangs are formed when strong winds travel in the same direction for a long period of time carrying sand-sized particles, eroding away the bedrock on Mars surface. Fenton, Lori. "IAG Planetary Geomorphology Working Group | Www.psi.edu." Planetary Science Institute Home | Www.psi.edu. Sept. 2008. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.<http://www.psi.edu/pgwg/images/sep08image.html>. BY: Darrian and Audrey
Background Information Continuation . . . They are usually formed in softer bedrock that is easily eroded such as volcanic ash. On Earth, most yardangs are found in deserts where there is plenty of sand for the winds to pick up.Nemiroff, Robert. "APOD: 2000 November 14 - The Yardangs Of Mars." Astronomy Picture of the Day. Malin Space Science Systems,, 14 Nov. 2000. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. <http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001114.html>.BY: Darrian and Audrey
Hypothesis If there are 100 samples of yardangs then, by looking at pictures of yardangs, we will know what direction the wind travels because yardangs are made by strong winds eroding away the rock so the creases will be pointing north. BY: Darrian and Audrey Believed by: Tyler, Darrian, Audrey, Taijah, Allie and Micah
Website list: • http://themis.asu.edu • Data collection steps on site: • 1. Go to the http://themis.asu.edu website; • 2. Click on the Image Galleries • 3. Click on Themis Images By Topic • 4. Click on Wind/Dust • 5. Click on Yardangs thing • 6. Click on Image of Yardang • 7. Look at pattern of Yardang. • 8. Look at direction of Yardang. • 9. Log down what you see. • BY: Tyler
Our group found that the most common wind direction for Yardangs was North. We also found that East was the least common wind direction of Yardangs on Mars. No sample goes above 16.
On this MOLA map of Mars, we can see that most of the Yardangs we used for our samples, are found in the central part of Mars. Also, to be more specific, most of them are found between longitude 180 and 270.
