This HiRISE image shows modified barchan dunes with shapes that resemble âraptor claws.â The unusual morphology of these dunes suggests a limited supply of windblown sand.
Winds likely blew from the northeast resulting in elongate dunes with an asymmetric downwind point. The transverse crests of the smaller ripples/mega-ripple bed-forms surrounding the dune, echo the dominant downwind direction towards the southwest.
This locality is in the Northern Lowlands directly east of Dokka Crater in Scandia Cavi.
Written by: Shirley (Sunny) Rosendahl and Marjorie A. Chan (30 September 2015)
More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_017426_2570
Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
