Planet Four Talk

streaky feature

  • SEJones by SEJones

    i thought the contrast between the bottom feature and top feature was interesting.

    the bottom of the image shows two fan features with fragmented display of deposits. but the feature at the top of the image seems to have a heavy appearance; it looks like a 'viscuous material filling a narrow cavity.

    Posted

  • Paul_Johnson by Paul_Johnson

    Top one is a fresh eruption, the other one is older and sinking back into the ice.

    I think.

    Posted

  • SEJones by SEJones

    but do fresh eruptions always look so neat? I thought even a fresh eruption would eject a spray of gas and debris pretty much in a similar way to a comet when it forms its cometary tail when approaching perihelion. when i looked closely at the image, the top feature looks like some material has neatly filled and seeped into a long strip of cavity...

    Posted

  • wassock by wassock moderator

    I'm not at all sure about this 'sinking' back into the ice thing. the mechanism for that is that the surface dust absorbs sunlight and melts itself into the surface ice. the bottom 2 fans cross spider channels which are clear, not an uncommon feature, if the reason for the blotchy appearance of the face were sun fueled melting then the dust that must have fallen in the channels should be out of the sun and less prone to melting. Instead theres none there at all. Dont think the top black feature is a fan at all but don't know what it is. to the right of it there is a large light fan coming down from the top methinks

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  • Paul_Johnson by Paul_Johnson

    Perhaps it was shot out under high pressure into a strong wind~? Nice neat fan, which then settles into the grooves and nooks of the surface ice.....eventually it will look like the one below, I think.

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  • SEJones by SEJones

    the top dark streak doesn't have the characteristcs of a fan. very likely some other material and mechanisms are involved..is it possibe to get the remaining image of the streak since some of it is not included in this image?

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  • Paul_Johnson by Paul_Johnson

    I think you may be on to something, keep digging.....

    Posted

  • SEJones by SEJones

    can project team scientists help with getting the remainder of streak feature (top part not visible)??

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  • Portyankina by Portyankina scientist

    Hi!
    The streak feature is what we call dry flaw or dry seepage - on Earth you can see those when sand runs down the dune slope. Just here dark "sand" runs down the icy slope. We see quite some of them, searching for this one is a bit time-consuming... Sorry!

    Anya

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  • SEJones by SEJones

    many thanks for explaining this feature. i thought i was on to something!

    Posted