The Martian Recurring Slope Lineae: Granular Flows Linked with Wind and Dust

Recurring Slope Lineae (hereinafter RSL) are seasonal dark flows observed on steep slopes (≳ 25°) of Mars that are overall dark (slope albedo < 0.2) (McEwen et al., 2011). These movements of up to a few hundred meters long appear and grow downwards (more or less incrementally), fade (partially or totally) more or less progressively, and recur almost every year. After considering it as liquid water or brine flows, the RSLs are now widely considered as granular flows of dark sand or dust, both involving dust at different levels. Mechanisms that may drive these movements are however not precisely understood. One of the main common features between RSL and dust is seasonality: major RSL formations are for example observed during the dust storm season, and RSL formation is enhanced after global dust storms. Here, we aim to better understand the role of dust and winds in these movements.

 

We have first concentrated our study on Hale crater (323.48°E, 35.68°S), a well-studied RSL site located within an area of higher dust storm detections in the OMEGA/Mars Express dataset. Images taken by the HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (during Martian Years 31, 32 and 33) have been used to characterise the RSL annual activities. We defined 3 intensity levels to classify formations and disappearances. Then, we compared these RSL activities to atmospheric dust optical depth measurements and Mars Climate Database (MCD) predictions of dust deposition and winds. Finally, we computed the effective reflectance values of several consecutive HiRISE images, taking into account the local slope of the surface, to quantify darkening and brightening.

 

We observed that RSL formation and disappearance are correlated with the atmospheric dust optical depth variations. We also noticed that the prediction of dust deposition rate reaches two maxima during the dust storm season that occur simultaneously with intermediate and high RSL disappearance levels. Reflectance variations showed that RSL can disappear both by brightening and darkening, with relative variations from a few per cent to 40%, suggesting that RSL can also disappear by widespread dust removal all over the RSL slope. We also identified some correlations between RSL activities and wind predictions: the maximum of surface wind stress is reached during the first period (of the year) of high RSL formation level, and the convective winds reach high values during the dust storm season (L_s ~ 180-360°), corresponding to intermediate and high RSL formation levels. Overall, these results suggest that dust deposition/removal and winds are involved in the RSL disappearance and formation mechanisms at Hale crater.