Mars - The north polar sand sea and related wind patterns

Details Mars - The north polar sand sea and related wind patterns Mars - The north polar sand sea and related wind patterns

Dec 1979

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1979jgr....84.8167t&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 84, Dec. 30, 1979, p. 8167-8180.

Physics

49

Dunes, Mars Atmosphere, Mars Surface, Polar Regions, Wind Direction, Wind Effects, Atmospheric Circulation, Ice, Image Processing, Mars Photographs, Northern Hemisphere, Photogeology, Sands, Satellite-Borne Photography, Viking Orbiter 2

Scientific paper

Viking Orbiter 2 images of the north polar region reveal an enormous sand sea (erg) covering an area of greater than 500,000 sq km around the perennial ice cap. All dunes are either transverse or barchan. The various dune morphologies and modifications of primary dune types reflect a wind regime having more than one wind direction. In the summer, two major wind directions prevail: (1) off-pole winds that become easterly due to coriolis forces and (2) on-pole winds that become westerly. During the winter and/or spring, only the on-pole winds exist. Strong winds greater than 75 m/s are required for sand accumulation to form the thick transverse dunes. The strongest winds in the north polar region are thought to exist during summer over the transverse dune field between 110 deg and 220 deg W; this area is a relatively warm belt (temperature greater than 230 K) between two ice zones (temperature less than 220 K). The lack of well-developed longitudinal dunes implies that the dune field is young. The relationship of the present dune field to the perennial ice indicates that the dunes began to form after the formation of the present ice cap.

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