The North Polar Layered Terrain on Mars: A Very Young Surface

Details The North Polar Layered Terrain on Mars: A Very Young Surface The North Polar Layered Terrain on Mars: A Very Young Surface

Mar 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996lpi....27..529h&link_type=abstract

Lunar and Planetary Science, volume 27, page 529

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Climate, Craters, Geology, Mars, Mars: Polar Layered Terrain

Scientific paper

THE NORTH POLAR LAYERED TERRAIN ON MARS: A VERY YOUNG SURFACE; K. E. Herkenhoff1, S. A. Nowicki2, and J. J. Plaut1, 1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, 2Augustana College, Rock Island, IL 61201-2296. The Martian polar layered deposits are probably the best source of information about the recent climate history of Mars, but their origin and the mechanisms of accumulation are still a mystery. The polar layers are sedimentary deposits that most planetary scientists believe are composed of water ice and varying amounts of wind-blown dust, but their composition is poorly constrained. Interpretation of the observed polar stratigraphy in terms of global climate changes is complicated by the significant difference in surface ages between the north and south polar layered terrains inferred from crater statistics. While no craters have been found in the north polar layered terrain, the surface of the south polar layered deposits appears to have been stable for many of the orbital/axial cycles that are thought to have induced global climate changes on Mars. Further studies of the polar layered deposits should ultimately lead to a better understanding of the climate history of Mars.

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