PIA04762: Polar Sand Dunes


Polar Sand Dunes

Caption:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-495, 26 September 2003

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows windblown sand dunes in Chasma Boreale, a wide trough in the north polar region of Mars. The dunes are shown here in their summertime configuration; that is, they are not covered with seasonal frost. The dunes are dark because the grains that make up these sandy landforms consist of dark minerals and/or fragments of dark-toned rock. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slipfaces, point toward the top/upper left (northwest), indicating that winds blow the sand from the lower right (southeast). This picture is located near 84.7°N, 359.3°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instrument Host Mars Global Surveyor
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Detector
Extra Keywords Dune, Grayscale
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2003-09-27
Date in Caption 2003-09-26
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04762
Identifier PIA04762