A study in Nature Communications reports that meteoroid impacts on Mars can trigger miles‑long dust slides known as slope streaks. Using deep learning, researchers led by Valentin Bickel identified over two million streaks and found that wind explains most, while about 1 in 1,000 are impact‑related. A Dec. 24, 2023 image from ESA’s ExoMars orbiter revealed a cluster of craters and a ~2.3‑square‑mile patch of discolored streaks near Apollinaris Mons; those impacts likely occurred between 2013 and 2017. Continuous global observations are crucial to understand these processes and assess risks for future human missions.
Meteorite Strikes on Mars Can Trigger Miles‑Long Dust Slides — New Study
A study in Nature Communications reports that meteoroid impacts on Mars can trigger miles‑long dust slides known as slope streaks. Using deep learning, researchers led by Valentin Bickel identified over two million streaks and found that wind explains most, while about 1 in 1,000 are impact‑related. A Dec. 24, 2023 image from ESA’s ExoMars orbiter revealed a cluster of craters and a ~2.3‑square‑mile patch of discolored streaks near Apollinaris Mons; those impacts likely occurred between 2013 and 2017. Continuous global observations are crucial to understand these processes and assess risks for future human missions.
04:25, 08.11.2025Science
Meteorite Strikes Can Unleash Miles-Long Dust Slides on Mars
Mars receives far more intact meteoroids than Earth because its atmosphere is less than 1% as dense, so many incoming objects do not burn up before reaching the surface. When they strike, these visitors from space can rearrange the planet’s dusty skin, producing dramatic changes that can stretch for miles and — in a future with human explorers on Mars — could represent a hazard.
The findings appear in a study published on November 6 in Nature Communications by researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Bern in Switzerland. Planetary scientist Valentin Bickel used deep‑learning algorithms to detect and analyze images of more than two million "slope streaks" — linear features where the planet’s top layer of fine dust has been displaced or removed. Because Mars lacks liquid water, the team concludes that wind is likely responsible for the majority of these delicate, feathery streaks.
Nevertheless, roughly one in every 1,000 slope streaks appears to be triggered by impacts. A clear example was captured on December 24, 2023, by ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. An image from the orbiter’s Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System shows a fading cluster of impact craters near the base of Apollinaris Mons, an ancient shield volcano close to Mars’ equator. The impact effects sit above the crater in a roughly 2.3‑square‑mile patch of discolored slope streaks — an impressive discovery given how uncommon impact‑triggered streaks are.
Dust, wind and sand dynamics appear to be the main seasonal drivers of slope streak formation. Meteoroid impacts and quakes seem to be locally distinct, yet globally relatively insignificant drivers.
Additional analyses allowed the team to estimate that the meteoroid impacts and the resulting streaks likely formed between 2013 and 2017. Across Mars the survey identified five distinct hotspots that remain visible and likely developed between 2006 and 2024.
Obtaining long‑term, continuous and global‑scale observations that reveal a dynamic Mars is a key objective of present and future orbiters.
Beyond improving our understanding of present‑day Martian processes, these observations also matter for exploration planning: even rare events such as meteoroid strikes can have wide‑ranging consequences for surface operations, habitats, and equipment. Continuous, global monitoring will help map these hazards and inform safe mission design for future human explorers.