Martian avalanche

Imaging the surface of the Red Planet while the Sun is low in the sky has provided a rather unique view. Here we can see dark streaks of material that have shifted from slopes and deposited in lobes. The topographic signature is typical of landslides, also known as mass movements. These are much more common during spring and summer, and one theory is that the thawing of ice destabilises the frozen surface, causing this mass movement. The High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this scene.