Windblown yardangs on Mars | Space photo of the day for Oct. 15, 2026
Martian sands blown by strong winds left rippled ridges on the surface of the Red Planet, as seen in this new image from the Mars Express spacecraft.
A recent image from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft showcases windblown ridges called yardangs on the Red Planet. This photograph focuses on Amazonis Mensa, a vast, flat mountain that provides scientists with insights into the various factors that shape a planet's surface. The image highlights several features, including large round craters formed by ancient impacts and partially filled by lava flows approximately 3 billion years ago.
Most intriguingly, the image reveals rippled structures known as yardangs on the Martian surface, extending in two distinct directions.
These ridges form when loose sand particles are lifted by wind and deposited, resembling a cosmic sandblaster. The presence of two sets of yardangs on Amazonis Mensa is due to the mountain acting as a windbreak, causing the wind to push material in separate orientations. Over the past 20 years, Mars Express has provided scientists with an unprecedented view of the Martian surface, enabling a deeper understanding of the forces that have transformed the Red Planet over countless geological epochs.
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