Much like the Earth, Mars has layered ice caps that contain a climate record. At the North Pole of Mars there’s an ice sheet with hundreds (maybe thousands) of layers, and we can see some of these layers in windows where the ice cap has been eroded.

In this HiRISE image, the layering in this window is complicated. The layers often don’t stack neatly on top of each other. Sometimes layers are eroded, then more layered ice is formed, and then the whole stack of layers is eroded again. When this happens, you can sometimes see some layers appearing to truncate others (geologists call these features unconformities).

As HiRISE acquires more images, a more complete record of Martian climate can be assembled.

ID: ESP_089277_2595
date: 12 August 2025
altitude: 319 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_089277_2595
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA