The North Pole of Mars is surrounded by a vast sea of sand dunes. In this dune field, the dunes are covered by a seasonal cap of dry ice in the winter.

In early Martian summer, at the time we acquired this image, the dunes are almost free of their seasonal ice cover. Only pockets of ice protected in the shade most of the day remain.

ID: ESP_053324_2570
date: 11 December 2017
altitude: 317 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_053324_2570
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
#Mars #science #NASA