OK, fans of classic science fiction might be disappointed. The yardangs are not barsoomian warriors in a newly discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs tale of adventure and conquest on the Red Planet . In fact yardangs , geologists' term for narrow, wind-eroded ridges, are common land features in the desert regions of planet Earth. These martian yardangs may have formed in deposits of volcanic ash. Covering a swath of the martian surface 2.5 kilometers high, this composite image does offer special effects, though.
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