Mars’ giant bubble wrap

A Piece of Mars: This 0.7×0.5 km (0.43x.31 mi) scene shows Mars’ giant yellow bubble wrap, with each “bubble” about 100 m across (seriously, don’t you want to pop them?). These are actually a type of dune called a “dome dune”, and they’re about as small as this type of martian dune can get. Dome dunes form where the wind blows from one main wind direction, but shifts a bit in direction (we call it a “wide unimodal distribution”). These are near the north pole, and at this time of year (early northern spring), they’re still covered in winter frost, with a light powdering of dust to make them yellow. You can see spots where the underlying dark sand is just beginning to show through as the sun sublimates the ice. (HiRISE, ESP_050886_2565, JPL/NASA/Univ. of Arizona).