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Cool image time! The photo to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on November 29, 2021 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows a collection of scattered thin surface fractures, grouped in clusters of parallel lines with the orientation of the clusters all somewhat random to other clusters.

The fractures, as well as the material inside the craters, appears to resemble glacial features, suggesting that these fractures are the result of either the past motion of the glacial sheet, or the sublimation of the buried ice, which causes it to crack and shrink as it slowly dissipates away.

The problem with that hypothesis is the location, as shown by the overview map below.

The red cross marks the location of the photo, south of Mars’ glacier country, at 27 degrees north latitude. As far as I am aware, the near surface glacial ice on Mars tends to disappear at about 30 degrees latitude. For there to be near surface ice at this latitude would be a significant discovery. Other images in other locations have suggested ice at even lower latitudes (See this February 2021 post). While such lower latitude ice has not been found easily, there are hints it does exist.

There is another explanation. We might be looking at the surface debris that once protected the ice, which cracked when the ice below sublimated away long ago. Similarly, the craters might be filled with dust and debris that now reflects the glaciers that once were below and are now gone.

Or not. The photo doesn’t really provide enough information to come to a determination. It only tantalizes.