Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Sand dunes are found in many places on Mars. At most of these places the dunes are slowly moving, blown by the wind, just like on Earth. However, in this location in south Melas Chasma they appear to have turned to stone.

The large dunes are slowly being eroded and disappearing, replaced by smaller structures of scalloped sand. This enhanced color image is less than 1 km.

This HiRISE camera image was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) at an altitude of 262 kilometers (163 miles).

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). It was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Washington.

For more information on MRO, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Capture Date: Dec. 1, 2019
Release Date: May 19, 2025

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