Tag Archives: barchan dunes

HiRISE: Defrosting dunes within Chasma Boreale

Posted on October 26, 2017 by rburnham

This 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 … Continue reading →

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HRSC: Colorful dunes on wind-swept Mars

Posted on October 16, 2017 by rburnham

Dunes are prominent indicators of prevailing winds, as can be seen on this crater floor on Mars, imaged by ESA’s Mars Express on 16 May. Depressions such as impact craters can act as traps for sediments that have been blown … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Opposing dunes, opposing winds

Posted on September 5, 2017 by rburnham

On one side of this image, fairly textbook-looking barchan sand dunes sit atop the bedrock. Barchan dunes pointing in the opposite direction are just a few kilometers away to the east. In between these opposing barchan dunes are star dunes. … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Dunes of the Southern Highlands

Posted on March 23, 2017 by rburnham

Sand dunes are scattered across Mars and one of the larger populations exists in the Southern hemisphere, just west of the Hellas impact basin. The Hellespontus region features numerous collections of dark, dune formations that collect both within depressions such … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Barchan dune changes

Posted on March 14, 2017 by rburnham

Barchan dune changes in the Hellespontus region. Beautiful Mars series.

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HiRISE: Dunes in northern summer

Posted on January 31, 2017 by rburnham

This dune field formed near the base of the North Polar cap. Dunes require a source of loose particulate material to form. The source of the northern dune fields around the polar cap may be from the layers of dusty … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Changing dunes of Wirtz Crater

Posted on January 20, 2017 by rburnham

The large dark feature is a classic Martian sand dune. Most sand on Earth is made from the mineral quartz, which is white and bright. On Mars, most sand is composed of dark basalt, a volcanic rock. For this reason, … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Barchan dunes

Posted on October 7, 2016 by rburnham

Consider the barchan dune. Beautiful Mars series.

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HiRISE: Barchan dunes, Dulovo Crater region

Posted on September 6, 2016 by rburnham

Barchan dunes in the Dulovo Crater region. Beautiful Mars series.

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HiRISE: Martian Morse code

Posted on June 30, 2016 by rburnham

These dark dunes are influenced by local topography. The shape and orientation of dunes can usually tell us about wind direction, but in this image, the dune-forms are very complex, so it’s difficult to know the wind direction. However, a … Continue reading →

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