Tag Archives: south polar ice cap

HiRISE: Mars – or a Petri dish?

Mars — or a Petri dish? Beautiful Mars series.

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HiRISE: South polar region cryptic terrain

Beautiful Mars series. South polar region cryptic terrain. This is called “cryptic terrain” because it stays cold in the spring, even as its albedo (light reflection) darkens and the Sun rises in the sky. More Beautiful Mars images.

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Spiral troughs in Mars polar caps are born in ‘cyclic steps’

Both Martian polar caps have deep spiral troughs that slice into them for dozens or hundreds of kilometers, but their origin and development has been much debated by scientists. New work by a team of researchers led by Isaac Smith … Continue reading

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Making polar spiders in the lab

The formation of “spiders” during Martian south polar spring is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena on the Red Planet. Briefly, what happens is that every winter carbon dioxide ice forms a translucent layer above the sandy ground. Then … Continue reading

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Southern polar eskers point to warmer past

Ice caps and glaciers on Mars today are “cold based,” meaning they are frozen solid to the ground beneath them. Scientists think the ice has been this way for most of the Amazonian period, the latest chapter in Mars’ geological … Continue reading

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