This false-color image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
shows the north pole layered deposits of ice exposed in a scarp at the head of
Chasma Boreale, a large canyon on the red planet
This false-color
image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the north pole
layered deposits of ice exposed in a scarp at the head of Chasma Boreale, a
large canyon on the red planet.
The ice
deposits appear red because they are mixed with red Martian dust. Water ice in
the deposits is probably responsible for the fractures visible near the top of
the scarp. The darker material is likely strips of sand that were deposited as
dunes and the bright layers in between them are probably ice, scientists say.
--SPACE.com staff
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Return each weekday for a new SPACE.com Image of the Day.
| 
