PIA07883: Groovy Dunes
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  836 x 1222 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1070  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA07883.tif (1.023 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA07883.jpg (152.4 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

23 April 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a favorite among the MGS MOC operations team at Malin Space Science Systems, another example of the grooved dunes in Herschel Crater. The fine-scale grooves on the sand dune surfaces were formed by wind erosion. The sand dune surfaces have, over time, become crusted and the dunes immobilized. Wind now has to scour sand from the surfaces of these bedforms, creating small wind erosion features known as yardangs in the sand.

Location near: 15.7°S, 228.9°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Winter

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2005-04-23