Wind and Sand - False Color

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the region between Terra Cimmeria and Aeolis Planum. The bottom half of the image is a surface that has been etched by wind action. To form the fine scale grooves, the surface material must be easy to erode. In the hills at the top of the image the same fine scale groove features don't exist. In this region the hills are partially surrounded by material that is blue in this false color combination. Dark blue is interpreted to be basaltic sand. It is possible that the sand in the top of the image was scoured from the surface in the bottom of the image.