Icy Water World Orbital Survey: Frost-fringed Polygons On Mars

A slice of the martian surface shown in grey shades and lit from the lower left. The centre-right of the image is dominated by a circular, partially eroded crater filled with frosty white intersecting lines that create near-rectangular and other irregular polygonal shapes. This texture is also seen elsewhere in the scene. Larger image

This image shows frost-fringed polygonal terrain on a cold springtime morning in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars as seen by the CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System) instrument on ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

The polygons form due to repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

The data for this image were captured by CaSSIS on 21 June 2020. It is centred at 55°S, 67°E near Dorsa Brevia. North is to the top of the image

This image is included in a new release from ESA’s Mars Express, which also highlighted these cryptic features on the martian surface.

Astrobiology, Astrogeology,