Sand dunes are found in numerous locales on Mars. These dunes are in the north polar region. High latitude dunes are covered seasonally with carbon dioxide frost (dry ice).

The subimage shows a place where material has slipped from the crest of the dune and slid down to form a deposit at the bottom. The material may have been loosened by the activity associated with sublimation (evaporation from a solid to a gas) of seasonal frost.


Written by: Candy Hansen

All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.