H2O grain size and the amount of dust in Mars' residual north polar CAP

Details H2O grain size and the amount of dust in Mars' residual north polar CAP H2O grain size and the amount of dust in Mars' residual north polar CAP

Feb 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990jgr....95.1481k&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 95, Feb. 10, 1990, p. 1481-1493. Research supported by NASA.

Physics

63

Dust Storms, Mars Atmosphere, Particle Size Distribution, Polar Caps, Satellite Imagery, Water, Carbon Dioxide, Grain Size, Ice, Infrared Imagery, Mars, Water, Grain Size, Dust, Polar Regions, Composition, Condensation, Metamorphism, Albedo, Size, Sublimation, Ice, Reflectivity, Brightness, Optical Properties, Concentration, Abundance, Photometry, Viking Missions, Spacecraft Observations, Orbiters, Irtm Instrument, Photographs, Snow, Thermal Effects, Parameters, Thermal Properties, Models, Water Vapor

Scientific paper

In Mars' north polar cap, the probable composition of material residual from the annual condensation cycle is a mixture of fine dust and H2O grains of comparable size and abundance. However, metamorphism of such material will gradually lower its albedo by increasing the size of the H2O grains only. If the cap is undergoing net annual sublimation (as inferred from water vapor observations), late summer observations should be of old ice with H2O grain sizes of 100 microns or more. Ice of this granularity containing 30 percent fine dust has a reflectivity similar to that of dust alone; the observed albedo and computed ice grain size imply dust concentrations of 1 part per 1000 or less. The brightness of the icy areas conflicts with what would be expected for a residual cap deposited by an annual cycle similar to that observed by Viking and aged for thousands of years. The residual cap surface cannot be 'old dirty' ice. It could be old, coarse, and clean; or it could be young, fine, and dirty. This brings into question both the source of the late summer water vapor and the formation rate of laminated terrain.

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