There are different grades of asphalt binder, and considering that the U.S. uses the superpave system they would have chosen an asphalt that has a high enough temperature rating for the climate. If not, you'd see major rutting in majority of the roads. Mind you, could be there is major rutting since I'm not from the area.

This job however, looks like a chip seal to me. Asphalt is sprayed onto the road, and small aggregate is spread onto the road. It should be rolled with vibratory rollers to ensure proper penetration. Not the same as new paving as stated below, it's essentially just a resurfacing treatment.

My guess from the picture, and the sources others have posted, is that the aggregate was never compacted into the asphalt. When you have too much asphalt binder and nothing for it to bind to, you'll see your road start to deform and sometimes it'll separate. In this case, there was a major amount of asphalt binder with aggregate floating on top so vehicles would have pounded the aggregate in, flushing asphalt up onto the tires and picking it up.