Looks a bit like a dust devil to me... But, what do I know. Plenty of explanation other than something walking about. Now, if it were to suddenly veer in a completely adjacent directino or start going back up the hill, one might be able to better argue for something not just following a "path of least resistance" (I'd still be more inclined to go with "dust devil" than mythical beast, though).
Could a dust devil make those intermittent pits, though? A good question. Unclear. However! There is evidence, and plenty of it, that dust devils have an inherently electrical nature (google "mars electric dust devils") and you'll probably come up with a few NASA releases and other stuff. Granted they still utilize ye olde "triboelectrics" to attempt to "explain" the electric fields present in the dust devils.
If, the dust devils were actually part of a current exchange (see Bernard Vonnegut's work on vortex stabilization of a high voltage discharge; available from adbsabs.harvard.edu), might it not be possible that a dust devil could actually machine the surface sediments electrically?
So, there's a few ways to make a crater chain. Granted, a rock rolling down a hill is probably another. :) Also likely the best option in this scenario. But, I think there are other interesting processes going on @ Mars that aren't quite so easily explained...
Regards, ~Michael
Mik
· 1 year ago
Plus, in that first picture, the size of the "footprints", that walking alien would have huge feet!
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Could a dust devil make those intermittent pits, though? A good question. Unclear. However! There is evidence, and plenty of it, that dust devils have an inherently electrical nature (google "mars electric dust devils") and you'll probably come up with a few NASA releases and other stuff. Granted they still utilize ye olde "triboelectrics" to attempt to "explain" the electric fields present in the dust devils.
If, the dust devils were actually part of a current exchange (see Bernard Vonnegut's work on vortex stabilization of a high voltage discharge; available from adbsabs.harvard.edu), might it not be possible that a dust devil could actually machine the surface sediments electrically?
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1960JAtS...17..468V
I'd point to several videos showing electrodynamic cratering made by a colleague in a garage science / hobby lab.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WB_EKVWgbj8
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3rqQnUCiWQo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7dbs5QAMOqc
Likewise the research done by Rutgers with respect to charged sand grains, etc. Strangely enough they tended to form craters in the sand flow.
http://sol.rutgers.edu/~lamarc/Razorbacks/
So, there's a few ways to make a crater chain. Granted, a rock rolling down a hill is probably another. :) Also likely the best option in this scenario. But, I think there are other interesting processes going on @ Mars that aren't quite so easily explained...
Regards,
~Michael