. Solar Energy News .




.
MARSDAILY
Mars' northern polar regions in transition
by Staff Writers
Paris (ESA) Aug 08, 2011

Detailed images and captions supporting this report are available at ESA.

A newly released image from ESA's Mars Express shows the north pole of Mars during the red planet's summer solstice. All the carbon dioxide ice has gone, leaving just a bright cap of water ice.

This image was captured by the orbiter's High-Resolution Stereo Camera on 17 May 2010 and shows part of the northern polar region of Mars during the summer solstice. The solstice is the longest day and the beginning of the summer for the planet's northern hemisphere.

The ice shield is covered by frozen water and carbon dioxide ice in winter and spring but by this point in the martian year all of the carbon dioxide ice has warmed and evaporated into the planet's atmosphere.

Only water ice is left behind, which shows up as bright white areas in this picture. From these layers, large bursts of water vapour are occasionally released into the atmosphere.

The polar ice follows the seasons. In winter, part of the atmosphere recondenses as frost and snow on the northern cap. These seasonal deposits can extend as far south as 45 degrees N latitude and be up to a metre thick.

Another phenomenon occurs on the curved scarps of the northern polar cap, such as the Rupes Tenuis slope. During spring, the seasonal carbon dioxide layer is covered by water frost. At certain times, winds remove the the millimetre-thick top layer of frozen water, revealing the carbon dioxide ice below.

These processes bear witness to a dynamic water cycle on Mars and may lead to the varying accumulation of water ice over the polar cap.

Other noticeable features include the Chasma Boreale canyon, coloured deposits and a large dune field.

Chasma Boreale is about 2 km deep, 580 km long and about 100 km wide. Its walls allow a perfect view into the strata within the deposits. There are impact craters on the canyon floor, some heavily covered by sand and some partly exhumed.

Dark and light-toned deposits can be seen as a fine and regular covering. The darker sediments have been dropped by the winds during spring dust storms. The patterns are created when the deposits change in quantity according to the seasons.

The polar cap is surrounded by a large dune field, parts of which extend 600 km to the south.

Mars Express will soon be using its radar to probe the northern polar cap in three dimensions. Since the radar antenna was deployed in mid-2005, the team have been waiting for the right conditions to observe the region.

The radar works best at night when the electrical interference from the planet's atmosphere is at a minimum. An excellent opportunity to observe the cap's shape, depth and composition occurs in August and September 2011.




Related Links
Mars Express at ESA
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



MARSDAILY
Phobos slips past Jupiter
Paris (ESA) Jun 20, 2011
Earlier this month, ESA's Mars Express performed a special manoeuvre to observe an unusual alignment of Jupiter and the martian moon Phobos. The impressive images have now been processed into a movie of this rare event. At the moment when Mars Express, Phobos, and Jupiter aligned on 1 June 2011, there was a distance of 11 389 km between the spacecraft and Phobos, and a further 529 million ... read more


MARSDAILY
Metabolism in reverse: Making biofuels at full-throttle pace

To avoid carbon debt CRP beats fields of corn and soybeans

Report: Algae as fuel presents problems

High Energy Output From Algae-Based Fuel No Silver Bullet

MARSDAILY
Wearable device that vibrates fingertip could improve sense of touch

Bionic microrobot mimics the 'water strider' and walks on water

Taiwan's Foxconn to use one million robots by 2014

Robot seagull flies in Scotland

MARSDAILY
Offshore wind power in the North Sea offer huge potential but enormous challenges

Scotland offshore wind farm ready to go

US fund Blackstone plans two big German wind farms

European wind power output tipped to treble by 2020: report

MARSDAILY
India's July car sales plunge most in nearly 3 years

China auto sales up 2.2% in July

University of Virginia researchers uncover new catalysis site

AviCoS replaces vehicle owner manuals

MARSDAILY
Sudan grants China oil exploration licence

Dutch court halts work on gas project

Slovenia slams Italy's Trieste LNG plans

China urges US oil giant to hasten clean-up: Xinhua

MARSDAILY
Has Graphene Been Detected in Space

Pioneers get close-up view of miracle material graphene

Hydrogen may be key to growth of high-quality graphene

The wonders of graphene on display

MARSDAILY
Iraq power plans short-circuit

Boeing And Siemens Form Strategic Alliance for DOD Energy Modernization

Iraq PM moves to fire minister over power deals

Japan's power supply dilemma

MARSDAILY
Up-And-Coming Forests Will Remain Important Carbon Sinks

Forests absorb one third our fossil fuel emissions

Fungi helped destroy forests during mass extinction 250 million years ago

Genetic evidence clears Ben Franklin


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement