Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Mars: Gypsum-Rich Dunes

Mars: Gypsum-Rich Dunes

author: NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona/Novapix

reference: a-mar11-00034

Image Size 300 DPI: 21 * 16 cm

In this enhanced-color image are dunes within the largest collection of dunes on Mars, Olympia Undae, near the margin of the north polar deposits, Planum Boreum. This section of Olympia Undae is particularly interesting because the dunes are rich in gypsum, a mineral that forms in the presence of water. While gypsum dunes on Earth (for example, at White Sands, New Mexico) are white (the color of gypsum), these Martian dunes are dark due to the presence of basaltic grains that lower the brightness of the dunes. This false-color image from the HIRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken on september 19, 2008.

Keywords for this photo:

2008 - ASTRONOMY - DUNE - FALSE COLOR - GEOLOGY - GYPSUM - HIRISE - MARS - MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER - MRO - NORTH POLE - PLANET - POLE - WATER -