HiRISE: Defrosting dunes within Chasma Boreale

ESP_052418_2650This image shows a dune field in Chasma Boreale, which is a large trough that cuts into the North Polar ice cap. Some of the dunes in this image are quite long and sinuous with a slight bulge at one end like a “head,” giving it the appearance of a snake.

However, most of the dunes visible here are of the type referred to as “barchan,” which are characterized by their crescent shape. For these types of dunes, the “mouth” of the crescent points in the downwind direction, indicating that the winds are traveling east-west. The diverse dune morphologies here suggest that the wind-direction changes over a very small area… [More at link]

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