NASA’s Curiosity rover has produced an arresting dawn image of the wind-carved formations known as yardangs on Mount Sharp. The ridges record a complicated history of sediment, erosion and geological change. Reuters reports that Curiosity has now climbed more than a kilometer in elevation since landing in 2012.
The visual hook is wonderful: the rocks look almost like an alien version of the American Southwest, but they belong to a planet with a very different atmospheric and water history. NASA hopes to examine the yardang layer more closely in 2027 or 2028.
Do this: open the original image at full size and compare the geometry with terrestrial desert landscapes. It is a satisfying two-minute science detour.