Geoscientist Explains Strange Rock Formation on Mars

Missions to Mars have brought forth a lot of valuable information about the planet, not all of which has been explained as yet. One such unexplained mystery from Mars has been regarding rocks that have been found on its surface. Rocks in some parts of Mars have been found scattered in strange uniform formations. So far, no ready explanation had been provided for such a uniformly spaced formation of rocks. However, Geoscientist Jon Pelletier, from the University of Arizona in Tucson believes he has solved this mystery.

It has been believed for some time now that the high speed winds that occur frequently on the surface of the planet may have something to do with rocks being scattered in particular formations. However, this theory does not hold much weight, because despite being a very windy planet, the air in the atmosphere of the planet is so thin, that even at high speeds, the wind is incapable of carrying rocks in its stride. The rocks found in these uniformly spaced formations range from the size of a penny to the size of a football. It would have been impossible for the winds on Mars to transport rocks of such varied sizes from one place to another. It is even more improbable that the winds were responsible for dropping these rocks of different shapes and sizes in a uniformly spaced fashion.

While the wind is incapable of moving rocks from one place to another, it certainly can move sand that is present all across the surface of Mars. Geoscientist Jon Pelletier believes that it is this motion of sand that is responsible for the strange rock formations on Mars. And not just that, he believes that the sand makes the rocks move into the direction of the wind as opposed to along with it. Here is how he explains it:

When the wind blows, it moves the loose sand in front of rocks, creating a pit in front of it. On the other hand, some of the sand gets deposited behind the rock as it provides protection against the wind. This mound of sand prevents the rock from rolling backwards and along with the wind. Instead, when the sand in front of the rock gets eroded, it creates a pit, causing the rock to roll forward into the pit and into the direction of the blowing wind. This gets repeated over and over again as long as the wind keeps blowing.

When you consider the effects of this phenomenon on a cluster of rocks, here’s what happens: the rocks in front of the cluster are the first to be affected by the wind, while the ones in the centre and around the back remain protected longer. In the case of a cluster, the pit gets created on the side of the rocks and they end up rolling sideways. The mound of sand that gets created behind them prevents bunching up of rocks and as the wind keeps blowing, the rocks move further apart from each other, but maintain a formation along the original cluster.