Tag Archives: north polar sand sea

THEMIS: On the shore of a sea of sand

THEMIS Image of the Day, June 20, 2018. This VIS image shows a small part of the huge northern dune field called Olympia Undae. This dune field surrounds 1/3 of the north polar cap. Collected in northern summer, there is … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Of dunes and their stories

Of dunes and their stories. So far no seasonal changes have been detected here, making this site unique. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Corduroy dunes

Corduroy dunes. The permanent polar cap of Mars is encircled by sand dunes and looking like pulled threads, these dunes march across a fabric of patterned ground. At this time of the Martian year they are free of the seasonal … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Patches of snow

The North Pole of Mars is surrounded by a vast sea of sand dunes. In this dune field, the dunes are covered by a seasonal cap of dry ice in the winter. In early Martian summer, at the time we … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Frost-free dunes in the north polar sand sea

THEMIS Image of the Day, May 25, 2018. This VIS image shows part of Olympia Undae, a large dune field that surrounds part of the north polar cap. At the top of the image the dunes are small and isolated. … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Dune erosion and streaks

Dune erosion and streaks. One of the many seasonal images we take to detect changes. In this case, we want to quantify the process of erosion driven by sublimation on the dunes. (Sublimation is the process of going directly from … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Frost-free dunes in north polar sand sea

THEMIS Image of the Day, March 16, 2018. This VIS image was collected at the height of summer. It is during this season that winds are able to move sand sized particles, slowly modifying the dunes. Olympia Undae is a … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Dunes in transition

THEMIS Image of the Day, March 15, 2018. This VIS image highlights the dune form/dune density aspects of Olypmia Undae. In the center there is a brighter, diagonal region of few dunes. These dunes are the arc or crescent shape … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Dunes, lacy and regular

THEMIS Image of the Day, March 14, 2018. This VIS image hightlights the density of dunes, the bottom third of the image has fewer dunes, spaced farther apart than the top two thirds of the image. The bottom of the … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS: Is that gypsum under the dunes?

THEMIS Image of the Day, March 13, 2018. This VIS image of Olympia Undae was collected during north polar summer. The dunes are now completely frost free and are dark in color due to being made of basaltic sand. The … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off