Moving sand dunes and ripples Syrtis Major Planum

back-and-forth blinking of two-image animation shows movement of advancing sand dune in nili patera, mars

nili paltera subject of 2010 study moving sand dunes , wind ripples. study showed dunes active , sand ripples actively migrating on surface of mars. following study showed sand dunes move @ same flux (volume per time) dunes in antarctica. unexpected because of thin air , winds weaker earth winds. may due saltation - ballistic movement of sand grains travel further in weaker mars gravity.

the lee fronts of dunes in region move on average 0.5 meters per year (though selection may biased here measured dunes clear lee edges measure) , ripples move on average 0.1 meters per year.