Frozen dunes on Mars
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Pockets of ice and
snow remain through summer in these Martian dunes. Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
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In early Martian summer, at the time NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) acquired this image, the dunes are almost free of their seasonal ice cover. Only pockets of ice protected in the shade most of the day remain.
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.
This is a stereo pair with ESP_053377_2570.
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The map is projected
here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image
scale is 33.3 centimeters (13.1 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects
on the order of 100 centimeters (39.4 inches) across are resolved.] North is
up. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
