{ "title": "Slopin’ About", "authors": "HiRISE", "metadata": { "thumbnailURL": "bundle://header.jpg", "excerpt": "HiRISE tries to identify areas on Mars with recurring slope streaks so we can monitor them and figure out what causes them to appear and reappear when the seasons change." }, "version": "1.5", "identifier": "ESP_055502_1515", "language": "en", "layout": { "columns": 10, "width": 1024, "margin": 85, "gutter": 20 }, "documentStyle": { "backgroundColor": "#faf7f2" }, "components": [ { "role": "heading1", "layout": "heading1Layout", "text": "HiPOD: WEDNESDAY, 15 JANUARY 2020" }, { "role": "divider", "layout": "bigDividerLayout", "stroke": { "width": 3, "color": "#8c2028" } }, { "role": "title", "layout": "halfMarginBelowLayout", "text": "Slopin’ About" }, { "role": "photo", "layout": "fullBleedLayout", "caption": "Two large mesas and their slopes might be the location of potential recurring slope lineae. Less than 5 km across. (NASA/JPL/UArizona)", "URL": "bundle://ESP_055502_1515-main-01-15.jpg" }, { "role": "body", "format": "html", "layout": "hipodMarginLayout", "text": "
“Recurring slope lineae” (RSL) is a fancy way of saying “recurring slope streaks.” These are streaks that in some locations can appear during the Martian summers, disappear in the winter, and then reappear.
It was thought that these streaks might be fluidized, i.e., perhaps caused by briny flows under the surface. But subsequent research indicates that this might not be completely accurate: the streaks could be caused by flows of dry material, also known as “mass wasting.” (These are different from regular slope streaks that we image due to the fact that they reappear rather than just fading away.)
We try to identify where possible RSL sites exist on Mars and the monitor them for changes, so we can learn more about the mechanism that causes these peculiar streaks to form and come back again.
ID: ESP_055502_1515
date: 30 May 2018
altitude: 256 km
NASA/JPL/UArizona