Abalos Undae is a dune field on Mars in the periphery of Planum Boreum, the Martian North pole. It is one of the officially named northern circumpolar dune fields, along with Olympia, Hyperboreae, and Siton Undae, and also one of the densest of the region. Its northernmost boundary is located in the southwest channel that separates the Abalos Colles formation from the main polar ice cap, and from there the dune field extends southwest all the way to the lowlands of Vastitas Borealis.
Abalos Undae dunes at Abalos Scopuli, the scarp of Abalos Mensa. The ice layers on the cap and basal formations are also visible. The picture was taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and was enhanced by NASA in RGB colour.
Abalos Undae at Abalos Scopuli, the scarp of Abalos Mensa
Dunes in Abalos Undae. The blue areas indicate the presence of dunes of basaltic origin, while the light-colour areas are probably dust.
Gypsum deposits in the dunes of Abalos Undae
Planum Boreum is the northern polar plain on Mars. It extends northward from roughly 80°N and is centered at 88.0°N 15.0°E. Surrounding the high polar plain is a flat and featureless lowland plain called Vastitas Borealis which extends for approximately 1500 kilometers southwards, dominating the northern hemisphere.
Viking mosaic of Planum Boreum and surrounds
False color HiRISE image of a side of the Chasma Boreale, a canyon in the polar ice cap. Light browns are layers of surface dust greys and blues are layers of water and carbon dioxide ice. Regular geometric cracking is indicative of higher concentrations of water ice.
False color HiRISE view of water ice layers in Olympia Rupes, believed by scientists to be preserving climate conditions of Mars dating back millions of years. Depicted width: 1.3 km (3⁄4 mi)
November 27, 2011
