Lucus Planum - Wind Erosion

The bottom half of today's VIS image shows Lucus Planum, a region of wind etched materials. In regions of poorly cemented surface materials it is possible to create large features due to just the action of the wind. The equatorial region between Olympus Mons and Apollinaris Mons is dominated by wind etched regions. The direction of the wind aligns with the ridges and valleys. Two dominant wind directions have shaped this region of Lucus Planum, one is southeast/northwest winds; and the other is the complete opposite - southwest/northeast.