#Eroded dune

ESP_036404_2590_0.55x
A Piece of Mars: Barchan dunes on Mars have a characteristic crescent shape, with a steep slope (“slip face”) on the inside of the sharpest curve (see examples like this, this, these, or this). This image (873×491 m, or 0.54×0.31 mi) shows an example of a dune that probably looked a bit like those other dunes did once, but it’s been highly eroded so that the characteristic curved slip face is no longer the steepest slope. This dune is located pretty far north, so I’m betting it’s been stabilized by ice, so that the wind can no longer easily reshape it into a typical barchan. (HiRISE ESP_036404_2590, NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona)

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