The outermost edge of Mars’ north polar icecap
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 4, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows the terminating cliffs of the north pole ice cap of Mars, dubbed Rupes Tenius on this side of the icecap.
At this point the elevation difference of the icecap’s edge from top to bottom is not significant, only about 1,500 feet or so, though this is a very rough estimate. As with all other images of the ice cape’s edge, there are many many layers visible, all indicating a different cycle in the climate history of Mars as its rotational tilt swings from about 11 degrees to 60 degrees over eons.
Moreover, at this point there is likely not that much difference between the terrain on top and the terrain below. Both will be mixed ice and dust and coarse rocks, though the percentages will be shifting towards less ice as we go down.
The white rectangle on the ice cap’s left edge on the overview map to the right marks the location of Rupes Tenius, which extends more or less from here to the east, where Chasma Boreale begins.
The edge of the north pole ice cape at the top of this overview map is much steeper and higher then at Rupes Tenius, and is also where MRO has spotted numerous avalanches occurring, as they happen.. At the more subdued cliffs of Rupes Tenius such avalanches have not yet been seen, though it is likely they happen, though not as frequently, and certainly not with as much drama because the cliffs are not as high.
The answer to many questions about the geological history of Mars is locked in these ice cap layers. All geologists need to do is to drill some long core samples into the ice cap, either here or in fact anyone on the cape. A review of that core will then quickly outline that entire geological history, and help explain other geological features everywhere else on the planet.
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, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 4, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows the terminating cliffs of the north pole ice cap of Mars, dubbed Rupes Tenius on this side of the icecap.
At this point the elevation difference of the icecap’s edge from top to bottom is not significant, only about 1,500 feet or so, though this is a very rough estimate. As with all other images of the ice cape’s edge, there are many many layers visible, all indicating a different cycle in the climate history of Mars as its rotational tilt swings from about 11 degrees to 60 degrees over eons.
Moreover, at this point there is likely not that much difference between the terrain on top and the terrain below. Both will be mixed ice and dust and coarse rocks, though the percentages will be shifting towards less ice as we go down.
The white rectangle on the ice cap’s left edge on the overview map to the right marks the location of Rupes Tenius, which extends more or less from here to the east, where Chasma Boreale begins.
The edge of the north pole ice cape at the top of this overview map is much steeper and higher then at Rupes Tenius, and is also where MRO has spotted numerous avalanches occurring, as they happen.. At the more subdued cliffs of Rupes Tenius such avalanches have not yet been seen, though it is likely they happen, though not as frequently, and certainly not with as much drama because the cliffs are not as high.
The answer to many questions about the geological history of Mars is locked in these ice cap layers. All geologists need to do is to drill some long core samples into the ice cap, either here or in fact anyone on the cape. A review of that core will then quickly outline that entire geological history, and help explain other geological features everywhere else on the planet.
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
Marvin and K-9 having fun in the snow with those Instant Martians