Canyons Craters Polar Ice Caps Water Features Volcanoes Martian Terrain Dust Storms Sand Dunes Dust Storms On Mars, as on Earth, dust storms can contribute to environmental change. Sometimes, though rarely, dust storms on Mars can be fierce enough to blanket the whole planet in a dusty haze for weeks, as the Mariner 9 spacecraft found out. Local and regional dust storms are much more common, and in polar regions can affect the rate at which seasonal frost weather patterns evolve. A dust storm the size of Spain rages on Earth, blowing a dense cloud of Saharan sand out into the Atlantic ocean. This storm provides a nice comparison to the windy dynamics on Mars, where a north polar dust storm extends out in the same pattern.
Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth, as well as Mars.
They form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust. The dust makes the vortex visible. On Earth, dust devils typically last for only a few minutes.