Tag Archives: ground ice

Long-term preservation of subsurface ice on Mars

Posted on February 22, 2018 by rburnham

Layered-ejecta craters on Mars that are associated with impacts into rock mixed with volatiles have been formed throughout the planet’s history indicating the long-term preservation of subsurface ice. Water ice on Mars is not currently stable in the near-equatorial regions … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Icy layers in craters

Posted on February 19, 2018 by rburnham

Scientists now realize that ice is very common on the Martian surface. It often fills up craters and valleys in the mid-latitudes in older climates, although when it’s covered in dust it can be hard to recognize. Today the climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Hexagons in icy terrain

Posted on January 23, 2018 by rburnham

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 →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Creepy stuff: possible solifluction on Mars

Posted on November 30, 2017 by rburnham

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 →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Ground ice lubricated Valles Marineris landslides

Posted on November 27, 2017 by rburnham

How good is your Martian geography? Does Valles Marineris ring a bell? This area is known for having landslides that are among the largest and longest in the entire solar system. They make the perfect object of study due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: A collapsed crater rim

Posted on November 27, 2017 by rburnham

The eastern rim of this small 3.5-kilometer crater appears to have collapsed into a much larger crater (about 14-kilometers wide). The larger crater has a large ice flow around its central peak, and is non-circular, with large blocks further suggesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE: Candidate Red Dragon landing site

Posted on November 14, 2017 by rburnham

Candidate Red Dragon landing site in Arcadia Planitia. There are indications of shallowly buried remnant ice in this area. Beautiful Mars series.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

New look at old data points to subsuface equatorial ice

Posted on September 28, 2017 by rburnham

Scientists taking a new look at older data from NASA’s longest-operating Mars orbiter have discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator — a mysterious signature in a region of the Red Planet where planetary scientists figure ice shouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Radar shows thick, porous sediments & no ground ice under Meridiani Planum

Posted on September 27, 2017 by rburnham

New findings reveal deposits on Mars that could be interpreted to be ice-rich may contain little or no ice at all, based on an analysis of radar sounder data for Meridiani Planum — an area on the planet’s equator being … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

HRSC: Crashing into martian mud

Posted on September 15, 2017 by rburnham

An impactor smashing into an ice-rich surface gave rise to the complex flow features around this ancient crater on Mars. Impacts of comets and asteroids have shaped the surfaces of rocky planets and moons over the Solar System’s 4.6 billion … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off