Sand Dunes in Nili Patera Caldera
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Sand Dunes in Nili Patera Caldera
PSP_005684_1890  Science Theme: Volcanic Processes
A set of dark sand dunes within the northeastern edge of a dune field in Nili Patera, a volcanic caldera in the Syrtis Major region of Mars is the focus of this HiRISE observation.

The lighter surface beneath the dunes is an ancient lava flow. The cracks in the flow probably formed when the lava cooled. Many of the cracks are dark and probably contain sand; the dark color of the dunes suggests that the sand is basaltic in composition and therefore originally derived from volcanic rock.

However, whether the sand formed from Nili Patera is not known, as it is possible the dunes have blown in from a more distal location. With two horns on one end and a rounded edge on the other, the dunes have a distinctive shape. The side of the dunes with the horns has a steeper slope — called the slip face &mdash and the rounded side exhibits a more shallow slope. These types of dunes are called “barchans” and, in analogy with similar dunes on Earth, form in areas with limited sand supply.

The horns of the barchans point in the downwind direction, indicating that the predominant surface winds in this region blew from the east-northeast (slightly upper right in the image). Zooming into the image, one can see landslides on many dune slip faces, indicating fairy recent slope failure. Very small ripples are visible on the dunes” surfaces, showing that the winds in this region have not only blown the barchans across the lava plain, but also modified the dunes themselves. Another HiRISE image, PSP_004339_1890, shows more barchan dunes in Nili Patera, south of this area.

Written by: Nathan Bridges  (16 January 2008)
 
Acquisition date
13 October 2007

Local Mars time
14:12

Latitude (centered)
8.896°

Longitude (East)
67.278°

Spacecraft altitude
270.5 km (168.1 miles)

Original image scale range
27.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~81 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.4°

Phase angle
35.3°

Solar incidence angle
39°, with the Sun about 51° above the horizon

Solar longitude
330.0°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  333.2°
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POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.