Hyperboreae Undae

Hyperboreae Undae (Latin: "Far Northern Waves/Dunes") is one of the largest and densest dune fields of Planum Boreum, the Martian North Pole.

From there, Hyperboreae Undae continues in a southwestern direction through Chasma Boreale, and into the lowlands of Vastitas Borealis.

[3] In the case of Hyperboreae Undae, the dunes close to its eastern boundary appear to be buried under the Planum Boreum 3 unit.

[3] The dunes of Hyperboreae Undae, according to data provided by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, exhibit the weakest signature for the presence of surface ice in the area of Chasma Boreale.

[6] A geomorphic comparison of Hyperboreae Undae with Rub' al Khali, Earth's largest contiguous dune field, has determined that the morphologies of the two ergs follow similar developmental patterns.

[9] The existence of both linear and barchan dunes in the same location is apparently incompatible, as that would seem to imply the co-existence of unidirectional and bidirectional winds in the same place.

[5] This theory is plausible, although it cannot be easily verified, because the time profile of the wind patterns for Hyperboreae Undae would need to be recovered.

Stereographic projection map showing the density distribution of dune fields in the Planum Boreum region. The grey regions are lower density fields. The four densest dune fields are shown in black. The prime meridian is at the bottom of the map. Hyperboreae Undae is shown on the left, between longitude 302.92°E to 316.02°E (43.98°W – 57.08°W).
Hyperboreae Undae dunes shown with surface frost. The dunes become darker when the frost sublimates from solar heating and the dark sands are revealed.
Coexistence of linear and barchan forms at Hyperboreae Undae. A study has been undertaken to explain the coexistence of these two forms. The location of the initial study site is at the boundary of Hyperboreae Undae with Boreum Cavus. [ 5 ]
Hyperboreae Undae barchanoid and linear dunes from NASA's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS)