Dust trapped on the lee side

A Piece of Mars: This 0.95×1 km (.59x.62 mi) scene shows the center of a small dune field. The dunes are shaped by three winds blowing from three different directions: from the west-southwest, east, and south. The north-facing slopes are slip faces made by the south wind, and most of them have bright patches on them that are probably accumulations of airfall dust. Whatever winds brought the dust, none have yet been able to remove it. I’d bet that one of the most recent winds to pick up sand on these dunes blew from the south, because those bright dust patches are still visible on those north-facing slopes, where they’d be protected from southerly winds. (HiRISE ESP_049481_1310, NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona).