Yardangs Little dippers Audrey Mumford Allee Miral Darrian Lambert Micah Chang Taijah Jones Tyler Hauser Period 4

Research Question What direction do yardangs usually point towards? Our question would be important for professional scientists to research because it could help us understand the direction of the winds on Mars which could later help us understand and estimate when and where storms might possibly happen. This question is interesting because our group thought yardangs where cool to look at and that people might want to know more about them. BY: Darrian and Audrey

Background Information

Background Information Continuation... Yardangs are formed when strong winds travel in the same direction for a long period of time carrying sand-sized particles, eroding away the bedrock on Mars surface. Fenton, Lori. "IAG Planetary Geomorphology Working Group | Planetary Science Institute Home | Sept Web. 28 Nov BY: Darrian and Audrey

Background Information Continuation... They are usually formed in softer bedrock that is easily eroded such as volcanic ash. On Earth, most yardangs are found in deserts where there is plenty of sand for the winds to pick up. Nemiroff, Robert. "APOD: 2000 November 14 - The Yardangs Of Mars." Astronomy Picture of the Day. Malin Space Science Systems,, 14 Nov Web. 01 Dec BY: Darrian and Audrey

Hypothesis If there are 100 samples of yardangs then, by looking at pictures of yardangs, we will know what direction the wind travels because yardangs are made by strong winds eroding away the rock so the creases will be pointing north. BY: Darrian and Audrey Believed by: Tyler, Darrian, Audrey, Taijah, Allie and Micah

METHODS

SpacecraftNASA’s Mars Odyssey CameraTHEMIS Camera Image TypeVisible Images- to see details of yardangs all around Mars surface MOLA- to see context of image & direction Geologic Features StudiedWhich direction do yardangs usually travel? Geologic regions we focused on Every where on the surface of the planet Mars

Sample Size100 THEMIS Image used to gather data Categories of data to be collected and “why” When looking at a picture of yardangs one thing that is sure to be observer is the direction of the yardang Image ID #- To refer back to image Latitude/Longitude-To refer back to Image Misc. Data-To record any other interesting information not warranted by our necessary data categories but certainly important to our study MeasurementsPicture Diameter- Rough estimation relative to image parameters based on THEMIS Camera’s Visible Image range of 18km x 30km

Website list: Data collection steps on site: 1. Go to the website; 2. Click on the Image Galleries 3. Click on Themis Images By Topic 4. Click on Wind/Dust 5. Click on Yardangs thing 6. Click on Image of Yardang 7. Look at pattern of Yardang. 8. Look at direction of Yardang. 9. Log down what you see. BY: Tyler

DATA

V North East V South West V North V North V East V North West V South East V South West V South East V North East V South East V South East V West V North V West By: Darrian

By: Allee V South West V South East V North East V South East V South East V West V North V West V North V North V North West V West V South V East V North East V North East V South West V South West V North West V North West V North East

By: Taijah V South V South V West V South V North V North West V South East V North East V South West V North West V South V West V South V South V North East V South West V North V North V East V North West V South East

By: Tyler V North East V North V North West V West V South V East V North East V North East V South West V South West V North West V South West V North East V North V East V North V South East V North East V West V South V North East

V South West V South East V North East V South East V South East V West V North V West V North V North V North West V West V South V East V North East V North East V South West V South West V North West V North West V North East By: Micah

Our group found that the most common wind direction for Yardangs was North. We also found that East was the least common wind direction of Yardangs on Mars. No sample goes above 16.

On this MOLA map of Mars, we can see that most of the Yardangs we used for our samples, are found in the central part of Mars. Also, to be more specific, most of them are found between longitude 180 and 270.

Potential Errors

Discussion

Conclusion

Hypothises

Research question

Further information researched…

Acknowledgments