Layers of the Martian South Polar Cap
The South
Pole of Mars
is stranger than was previously thought.
Pictured above are unexpectedly
complex layers photographed recently by the
Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently orbiting
Mars.
The layers probably include
carbon dioxide ice,
water ice,
rock and dust.
The intricate structures might indicate
erosion patterns that hold clues to the history of the
Martian climate over the past 100 million years.
The
above image covers a region five kilometers across,
resolving details as small as 25 meters across.