E-Mail IMAGE: An SwRI-led study identifies plumes of airborne dust emanating from sources inside gullies at Mars' Russell crater megadune in the Martian spring. The plume phenomena support the hypothesis that CO2... view more Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Systems (CTX) & NASA/JPL/University of Arizona (HiRISE)] SAN ANTONIO -- Feb. 24, 2021 -- A Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) scientist examined 11 Mars years of image data to understand the seasonal processes that create linear gullies on the slopes of the megadune in the Russell crater on Mars. In early spring images, captured by two different cameras on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, SwRI's Dr. Cynthia Dinwiddie noticed airborne plumes of dusty material associated with the linear dune gullies on the sand dune's downwind slope. These clues point to active processes involving chunks of frozen CO2, or dry ice, sliding down the sand dune, kicking up sand and dust along the way.