It was spring (2017) in the Northern Hemisphere when we took this image. Over the winter, snow and ice have inexorably covered the dunes. Unlike on Earth, this snow and ice is carbon dioxide, better known to us as dry ice.

When the sun starts shining on it in the spring, the ice on the smooth surface of the dune cracks and escaping gas carries dark sand out from the dune below, often creating beautiful patterns. On the rough surface between the dunes, frost is trapped behind small sheltered ridges.

ID: ESP_050703_2560
date: 21 May 2017
altitude: 319 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_050703_2560
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
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