Sand dunes are leeches on Mars

The camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the US Aeronautics Agency (NASA) took a picture of the Martian sand dune shaped like a large leech.

Mars sand dunes are like leeches

According to Fox News, the photo was taken by the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on this summer's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Sand dunes look like a giant leech on the surface of Mars.(Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona).

HiRISE is responsible for taking photos of sand dunes on a regular basis to study soil movement. Photos also provide information about erosion, movement of matter on the planet's surface, wind, weather patterns, soil particles and particle size. Sometimes, they can reveal the nature of the soil below.

When zoomed in, the photo shows the distance between the dunes and a surface with many faults. According to NASA, this surface is capable of supporting wind-induced erosion, proving that surface material is hard rock that is broken under the long-term impact of bending forces or changing temperatures.

Another theory is that the Martian surface may be a sediment. This surface layer has a period of submergence, then shrinks and breaks when the water is dry.