Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

Context image credit: NASA/JPL/MOLA
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Detailed information on this image is available at the THEMIS Data Releases website.

 

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During April 2005 the image of the day looked at dunes, including the north polar sand sea and isolated dune fields at lower latitudes. Sand seas on Earth are often called "ergs", an Arabic name for dune field. A sand sea differs from a dune field in two ways: 1) a sand sea has a large regional extent, and 2) the individual dunes are large in size and complex in form.

This VIS image was taken at 81 degrees North latitude during Northern spring. In this region, the dunes are isolated from each other. The dunes are just starting to emerge from the winter frost covering appearing dark with bright crests. These dunes are located on top of ice.