Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1979

Abstract

The Western Desert of Egypt has long served as a basic sourcc for data on desert dunes and the transport of sand in an eolian environment. Similarities between the Western Desert and Mars include evidence of wetter climatic conditions in the past, present-day extreme aridity, and dominance of eolian transport of material. Recently, satellite pictures of the Western Desert revealed streak patterns that scem to be analogous to those on Mars. Wind processes have produced numerous bright and dark-colored streaks in southwestern Egypt that are similar in both scale and morphology to those i in the Cerberus region ofN Mars. Bright slrcaks i in the Western Desent are depositionul and consist of sand accumulations in longitudinal dunes, relatively thin sand sheets, a and coarse lag sur- faces. Dark streaks are erosional products St mountains and hills and consist of irregular chips of đark rock that form immature desert pavements. The size range of the streaks in southwestern Egypt is consistent with that of streuks in the Cerberus region; in both regions, streaks range from a few kilometers to 40 km in length and from a few kilomcters to 20 km in width. The 1:2 ratio of width to length is consistent for streaks on both plancts, Detailed study of bright and dark streaks in south- western Egypt will ielp us to belter interpret the results of eolian trunsport and deposition on Mars.

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