Tag Archives: ground ice

HiRISE: Within a crater in the Southern Highlands

Posted on July 27, 2017 by rburnham

Within a crater in the Southern Highlands. This is a very ancient crater, long filled-in. You can see polygonal patterns in the terrain, mainly due to the contraction of subsurface ice as the seasons change. Beautiful Mars series.

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Terraced craters reveal buried ice sheet on Mars

Posted on June 30, 2017 by rburnham

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, June 30, 2017: A.M. Branson (University of Arizona). When an object impacts into layered material, it can form a crater with terraces in the crater’s walls at the layer boundaries, rather than the simple bowl-shape … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Rectangles with wiggly sides

Posted on January 30, 2017 by rburnham

Ground that has a lot of water ice mixed with dirt tends to crack in polygonal patterns bounded by short straight channels. In the South Polar region of Mars this type of terrain may be covered by a seasonal polar … Continue reading →

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SHARAD finds ice deposit in Utopia Planitia with as much water as Lake Superior

Posted on November 22, 2016 by rburnham

Frozen beneath a region of cracked and pitted plains on Mars lies about as much water as what’s in Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes, researchers using NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have determined. Scientists examined part of Mars’ Utopia … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Yuty Crater

Posted on June 14, 2016 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, June 14, 2016. This VIS image shows a small portion of Yuty Crater’s ejecta blanket. The crater is off the image to the right. The lobes of ejecta end in a raised ridge of material; … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Crevasse-like features in the Utopia region

Posted on October 29, 2015 by rburnham

Crevasse-like features in the Utopia region. Beautiful Mars series.

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THEMIS: Aureum Chaos – false color

Posted on October 26, 2015 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, October 26, 2015. The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Channels

Posted on October 21, 2015 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, October 21, 2015. Today’s VIS image shows part of a complex region of channels which dissect the margin of Arabia Terra where elevations lower into Acidalia Planitia. Material that has moved down the channels in … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Gullies in a central-pit crater

Posted on October 16, 2015 by rburnham

Sometimes a central pit forms inside some Martian craters, especially when there’s substantial ground ice. Such is the case in this observation. Sometimes what we call “mass wasting” processes (think small avalanches or landslides) occur on the slopes of the … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Mamers Valles

Posted on September 1, 2015 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, September 1, 2015. Today’s VIS image shows the start of Mamers Valles. More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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