An insolation activated dust layer on Mars

The illuminated dusty surface of Mars acts like a gas pump. It is driven by thermal creep at low pressure within the soil. In the top soil layer this gas flow has to be sustained by a pressure gradient. This is equivalent to a lifting force on the dust grains. The top layer is therefore under tension which reduces the threshold wind speed for saltation. We carried out laboratory experiments to quantify the thickness of this activated layer. We use basalt with an average particle size of 67 μm. We find a depth of the active layer of 100-200 μm. Scaled to Mars the activation will reduce threshold wind speeds for saltation by about 10%.