Tag Archives: periglacial terrain

HiRISE: The exposed exterior of a modified crater in Tantalus Fossae

The exposed exterior of a modified crater in Tantalus Fossae. Many craters in this area have been extensively modified, but few are sitting on the edge of a graben like this. This position exposes parts of the crater exterior and … Continue reading

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HiRISE: The Case of the Martian Boulder Piles

This image was originally meant to track the movement of sand dunes near the North Pole of Mars, but what’s on the ground in between the dunes is just as interesting! The ground has parallel dark and light stripes from … Continue reading

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Geologically recent glacial melting on Mars

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, March 1, 2018: Frances E.G. Butcher (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK). Thousands of putative debris-covered glaciers in Mars’ middle latitudes host water ice in volumes comparable to that of all glaciers and ice caps … Continue reading

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HiRISE: Stranger (crater) things

Stranger (crater) things. Could this deposit at the bottom of an impact crater be a relic of glacial features? Beautiful Mars series.

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Enigmatic clastic polygons on Mars

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, February 1, 2018: Laura Brooker (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK). Polygonal ground of centimetre- to decametre-scale is one of the most common features found in cold-climate regions on Earth and on Mars. Polygonal shapes … Continue reading

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HiRISE: Hexagons in icy terrain

Ground cemented by ice covers the high latitudes of Mars, much as it does in Earth’s cold climates. A common landform that occurs in icy terrain are polygons. Polygonal patterns form by winter cooling and contraction cracking of the frozen … Continue reading

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HiRISE: Dune maze craze

Dune maze craze. This image shows sand dunes on the northern plains in the spring, when the seasonal frost is sublimating (and making crazy patterns). The dunes have coalesced here into an interlocking maze. Polygons between the dunes are due … Continue reading

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HiRISE: Depressions and channels on the floor of Lyot Crater

Lyot Crater (220-kilometers in diameter) is located in the Northern lowlands of Mars. The crater’s floor marks the lowest elevation in the Northern Hemisphere. On the crater’s floor, we see a network of channels connecting a series of irregular shaped … Continue reading

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Creepy stuff: possible solifluction on Mars

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, November 30, 2017: Andreas Johnsson (University of Gothenburg, Sweden). Small-scale lobes on Mars (Fig. 1) are tens to hundreds of meters wide and consist of an arcuate frontal riser that is a meter to … Continue reading

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THEMIS: Glacial terrain in Moreux Crater

THEMIS Image of the Day, November 17, 2017. This image of Moreux Crater shows part of the central peak at the top of the frame, deposits of material from the crater rim at the bottom of the frame and sand … Continue reading

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