23 October 1998:
New images of the Martian north polar cap, taken by NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor on July 30, 1998, as the spacecraft swept
over this enigmatic region of the planet, reveal a slope along
the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars with dozens of
layers of Martian material, many more layers than were visible to
the Viking Orbiters in the mid-1970s.
The North Pole of Mars as photographed by NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor
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Since discovery of this layered terrain in the early 1970s,
scientists have wanted to study the polar caps in greater detail
to understand cyclic changes in the Martian climate. Several
instruments onboard Mars Global Surveyor have returned enough
data now to allow them to begin profiling geologic processes that
may have sculpted these largely uncharted areas.
Left: The north polar layered deposits, a terrain believed composed of ice and dust deposited over millions of years, dominates
this view. The swirled pattern in the images above are channels eroded into this deposit. The pattern is accentuated by the
illumination and seasonal frost differences that arise on sun-facing slopes during the summer. The permanent portion of the
north polar cap covers most of the region with a layer of ice of unknown thickness.
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A close-up view of layered terrain near the Martian north pole.
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