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Windblown Sand Dunes

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows
PIA04896
Credits: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
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Description

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-557, 27 November 2003

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows sand dunes and large ripples in a crater in the Hellespontus region of Mars. The winds that formed these dunes generally blew from the left/lower-left (west/southwest). Unlike the majority of dunes on Earth, sand dunes on Mars are mostly made up of dark, rather than light, grains. This scene is located near 50.3°S, 327.5°W. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide, and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.