Unique ventifacts and related aeolian conditions at Zhurong landing site, Utopia Planitia, Mars
Résumé
On 14 May 2021 (UTC), China’s first Mars rover, Zhurong, has opened a new frontier of in-situ Mars exploration when it landed in the vast terrain of southern Utopia Planitia [1]. The first year of Zhurong’s journey has provided close-up views of the landscape. Traversing south, the rover was able to visit several bright dunes and witness serveral ventifacts [2]. For the ventifacts, [2] described some being pitted and layered with flaky structures, while [3] has inferred that some of the low-lying ventifacts were exposed sulfate duricrusts, suggesting possible underground aqueous activity. Here, we have identified that the flaky features are aeolian and their formation relates to certain aeolian conditions.
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