Dry ice and dunes: seasonal changes on Mars

This great video has just been posted by JPL:

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures the springtime thaw of seasonal carbon dioxide ice on Mars.



I have been interested in seasonal changes and dry ice / dune dynamics on Mars for a long time, and this video is just what I hoped to see. It shows how the dark sand cascades down the dunes after being freed from the frozen CO2.

Remember the "trees on Mars" thread and pictures? Well, this video hopefully dispells the notion that some people got about them being trees. Below is a screenshot from the video, showing those dark sand slides:

What a beautiful thing it is to watch an interesting process in action on a different planet than Earth. The colour of the dark sand makes me think of dark Iron-rich sands you can find here on Earth.

Dry Ice is too cool.

I used to freak my two oldest daughters out back when they were little girls, years ago, by taking a chunk of dry ice and dropping in a glass of Kool-Aid.

As it bubbled and frothed like some sort of Mad Scientist potion, I'd quaff it on down, with them going "NO Daddy!"