Cracking ice on Mars?
Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on December 7, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the MRO science team dubs “erosion of scalloped terrain” in the northern lowland plains of Mars.
The cracks invoke the polygon cracks one sees in mud as it dries. The circular feature suggests a buried crater whose shape is merely suggested because the cracks are conforming to the underground topography.
Are we looking at dried mud? Maybe, but more likely we are seeing a sheet of ice now sublimating away and cracking as it does so. If you look at the full photo you will see the cracked material also appears to drape itself over several nearby low ridges, something that seems more likely from ice than mud.
The overview map below also suggests this is a buried layer of ice.
The red dot marks the location of this picture. At 42 degrees north latitude, it is well within the region where scientists find ample evidence of ice and glaciers.
The real question then: Why is this ice cracking and eroding away? This far north ice seems to be found everywhere. In glacier country that ice almost always appears robust and thick. Only as you get close to 30 degrees north latitude does it begin to show sublimation features, with all evidence of ice disappearing as you approach the equator.
For this ice to be cracking suggests its protective layer of dust and debris has blown away, exposing the ice to the thin Martian atmosphere and thus allowing it to sublimate away. In fact, this image suggests the bigger mystery is that we don’t find more ice cracking and eroding as we see here. It seems astonishing that most of the glaciers found in the mid-latitudes are all so well protected by a thin layer of dust and debris. Yet it appears they are.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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Click for full image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on December 7, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows what the MRO science team dubs “erosion of scalloped terrain” in the northern lowland plains of Mars.
The cracks invoke the polygon cracks one sees in mud as it dries. The circular feature suggests a buried crater whose shape is merely suggested because the cracks are conforming to the underground topography.
Are we looking at dried mud? Maybe, but more likely we are seeing a sheet of ice now sublimating away and cracking as it does so. If you look at the full photo you will see the cracked material also appears to drape itself over several nearby low ridges, something that seems more likely from ice than mud.
The overview map below also suggests this is a buried layer of ice.
The red dot marks the location of this picture. At 42 degrees north latitude, it is well within the region where scientists find ample evidence of ice and glaciers.
The real question then: Why is this ice cracking and eroding away? This far north ice seems to be found everywhere. In glacier country that ice almost always appears robust and thick. Only as you get close to 30 degrees north latitude does it begin to show sublimation features, with all evidence of ice disappearing as you approach the equator.
For this ice to be cracking suggests its protective layer of dust and debris has blown away, exposing the ice to the thin Martian atmosphere and thus allowing it to sublimate away. In fact, this image suggests the bigger mystery is that we don’t find more ice cracking and eroding as we see here. It seems astonishing that most of the glaciers found in the mid-latitudes are all so well protected by a thin layer of dust and debris. Yet it appears they are.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
OT: Major corona mass ejection today. Not coming towards the Earth though. But there was simultaneously a “coronal CME” observed moving either directly towards or straight away from Earth, that seems to be unknown thus far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLqhd4fvzY
Such a thing could suddenly wipe out Parker Solar Probe.
All the money that has already been spent, the many missions that have already been sent. And we still don’t know if there is original life on Mars. It almost seems like avoiding the search for it, and yet it is by far the greatest benefit and value that Mars can offer us.
How wide do you suppose the cracks are?
Bill Mullen: Using the scale on the picture, the cracks can’t be more than a few feet across. Generally I’d guess between 1 to 20 feet wide.