Evidence of Martian near-surface ice in an unusual location
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on May 27, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled merely as a terrain sample, it was likely taken not as part of any specific research request, but to fill a gap in the camera’s picture-taking schedule so as to maintain its proper temperature.
The picture however shows features that help confirm earlier research into the near-surface ice believed to permeate Mars’ middle latitudes. The knobby flat terrain both inside and outside of the crater resembles what scientists have labeled “brain terrain”, an as-yet unexplained geological feature unique to Mars and usually associated with near-surface ice and the glacial features found above 30 degrees latitude.
This 1.4-mile-wide unnamed crater is located at 40 degrees north latitude, so expecting near-surface ice or glacial features here is not unreasonable. The location however is different for other reasons, that make this data more intriguing.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, about 80 miles west of the western edge of the caldera of the giant shield volcano Alba Mons and very high on the mountain’s flanks. The inset shows that this crater is one of three in the same region of flood lava that poured off the volcano an estimated 3.2 to 3.6 billion years ago. The low crater count here indicates the age, and tells us that the few impacts visible occurred more recently. It is possible that the two smaller impacts were caused by either secondary ejecta from the largest impact, or all three resulted from a single large bolide that broke up as it thundered through the Martian atmosphere before hitting the ground.
Planetary scientists have studied the craters in this region, and concluded that “The presence of ring-mold crater morphologies and brain-terrain texture preserved on the surface of flow features suggests that they are possibly formed of near-surface ice-rich bodies.”
In other words, these craters were impacted into ice-rich ground, which melted the ice. The liquid then percolated up to fill the crater, subsequently refreezing. In the several billion years since various theorized erosion and sublimation processes caused the surface to become the textured brain terrain we see now.
What is important is that this crater suggests the presence of easily accessible near-surface ice, even on the high flanks of this giant shield volcano, at a location we should instead expect to merely find hard flood lava.
For a human colony this location is not ideal, because the high elevation makes the atmosphere so thin. That it appears to have ample near-surface ice however tells us once again that Mars is not a dry planet, but rich in accessible ice, especially in latitudes higher than 30 degrees.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on May 27, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled merely as a terrain sample, it was likely taken not as part of any specific research request, but to fill a gap in the camera’s picture-taking schedule so as to maintain its proper temperature.
The picture however shows features that help confirm earlier research into the near-surface ice believed to permeate Mars’ middle latitudes. The knobby flat terrain both inside and outside of the crater resembles what scientists have labeled “brain terrain”, an as-yet unexplained geological feature unique to Mars and usually associated with near-surface ice and the glacial features found above 30 degrees latitude.
This 1.4-mile-wide unnamed crater is located at 40 degrees north latitude, so expecting near-surface ice or glacial features here is not unreasonable. The location however is different for other reasons, that make this data more intriguing.
The white dot on the overview map to the right marks the location, about 80 miles west of the western edge of the caldera of the giant shield volcano Alba Mons and very high on the mountain’s flanks. The inset shows that this crater is one of three in the same region of flood lava that poured off the volcano an estimated 3.2 to 3.6 billion years ago. The low crater count here indicates the age, and tells us that the few impacts visible occurred more recently. It is possible that the two smaller impacts were caused by either secondary ejecta from the largest impact, or all three resulted from a single large bolide that broke up as it thundered through the Martian atmosphere before hitting the ground.
Planetary scientists have studied the craters in this region, and concluded that “The presence of ring-mold crater morphologies and brain-terrain texture preserved on the surface of flow features suggests that they are possibly formed of near-surface ice-rich bodies.”
In other words, these craters were impacted into ice-rich ground, which melted the ice. The liquid then percolated up to fill the crater, subsequently refreezing. In the several billion years since various theorized erosion and sublimation processes caused the surface to become the textured brain terrain we see now.
What is important is that this crater suggests the presence of easily accessible near-surface ice, even on the high flanks of this giant shield volcano, at a location we should instead expect to merely find hard flood lava.
For a human colony this location is not ideal, because the high elevation makes the atmosphere so thin. That it appears to have ample near-surface ice however tells us once again that Mars is not a dry planet, but rich in accessible ice, especially in latitudes higher than 30 degrees.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Readers: the rules for commenting!
No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.
However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.
Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.