MARS: The International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration Home News Contents Search About Submit Register Log In

MARS | Science

Surface textures in the NPLD. Counter clockwise from upper left: knobby (M00/00163), the marker bed (M00/02100), pitted (M02/02431), rough (M01/0034), imbricate (M01/01754), laminated (M02/00061). Sun direction indicated by arrows. Scale bar indicates the horizontal scale derived from the image on top and vertical scale derived from MOLA data on bottom.
Full Resolution Version: 1 MB
Order high-quality reprints

Surface textures of Mars' north polar layered deposits: A framework for interpretation and future exploration

1,2Sarah M. Milkovich and 1James W. Head

1Dept. of Geological Sciences, Box 1846, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
2Currently at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA

Mars 2, 21-45, 2006 | doi:10.1555/mars.2006.0003
Received September 29, 2005 | Accepted May 29, 2006 | Published August 18, 2006

A comparison of terrestrial ice surfaces and martian layer bed surfaces provides insight into the history of polar processes. We identify a number of important observations of physical characteristics that future polar surface missions should make to help characterize deposits and distinguish among hypotheses.

PDF 9.2 MB | ZIP 29.5 MB | TAR.GZ 29.4 MB | Supporting Files