Other
Scientific paper
Nov 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001dps....33.4811m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS Meeting #33, #48.11; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.1128
Other
Scientific paper
Mars Orbiter Camera onboard of the Mars Global Surveyor has obtained several images of polygonal features in the southern parts of Malea Planum. One image was taken at the end of the southern winter and shows surface uniformly covered by CO2 frost. Several other images were obtained during the end of the southern spring. The surface in these images is free of the seasonal frost, however in the interior of the polygonal cracks the CO2 ice is still present. In Earth's polar regions, polygons such as these images are indicative of the presence of water ice in the ground. The cracks of the polygonal features are from a few to about 20 m wide and have sections about 100 m long. Their orientation appears to be random. We analysed the seasonal evolution of the thermal state and the CO2 content of these features. Our 2-D model includes condensation and sublimation of CO2 ice, a self consistent treatment of the variations of the thermal properties of the regolith, as well as the seasonal variations of the local atmospheric conditions which we take from the results of a general circulation model (Forget et al., 1999, JGR, 104, 24155). We find that the most important parameter of the problem is the depth at which we assume the existence of water ice permafrost. For CO2 ice within the cracks to sublimate completely during the summer, the permafrost must be within one metre of the surface. Permafrost significantly deeper than this or a complete absence of permafrost results in the polygonal features to be filled with CO2 ice during the full seasonal cycle. Our model together with data on time variation of the CO2 ice content within the polygonal features can address the question of the presence of the permafrost and its position below the surface.
Kossacki Konrad J.
Markiewicz Wojciech J.
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