[astro-ph.EP] Sputnik Planitia (SP) on Pluto is a large, predominantly N2 ice-filled basin with a surface area of one million square kilometers; it is among the most spectacular surface features […]
glacier
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Recon: Giant Fan-shaped Geological Structure Discovered Beneath East Antarctica
Editor’s note: there are currently two advanced missions heading for the jovian system – Europa Clipper and ESA Juice – to study icy Europa and the other icy worlds orbiting […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release
Ice Planet Orbital Recon: Greenland’s Changing Ice
Greenland is the world’s largest island and about 80% of its surface is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second largest ice mass on Earth after the Antarctic Ice […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
Astrobiological Implications of Lava Flows Superposed on Martian Glaciers
Volcanic eruptions and glacial ice have occurred at virtually all latitudes and altitudes throughout Mars history.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers On Earth, Guiding The Search For Water On Mars
Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.
![Maps of GEOCLIM simulation (two time slices). “0” maps (left column) are the initial condition, “1” maps (right column) are at the perturbation peak (3 Myr of run time, cf Fig. 4a). (a0–1) Topography and oceanic O2 concentration at bottom of water column, (b0–1) physical erosion rate, showing enhanced physical erosion around the Variscan orogeny, and (c0– 1) regolith depletion quantified by the proportion of unweathered mineral at top of regolith. The uplifted area is contoured in magenta on each map. The boundaries of oceanic boxes, and their corresponding continental drainage basins are drawn on each map (white solid and blue dotted lines). GEOCLIM computes one mean O2 concentration for each of the 21 boxes. The maps panels (a0–1) show the mean concentrations of GEOCLIM bottom boxes drawn on the full geographic extent of these boxes at the oceanic resolution of the FOAM ocean-atmosphere general circulation model [90] simulations, which were used as GEOCLIM forcing. -- Science China Press](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/What-triggered-Earths.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release
What Triggered Earth’s Shift From A Greenhouse To An Icehouse Climate And The Onset Of The Late Paleozoic Ice Age?
Scientists have debated for decades what caused the Late Paleozoic climate transition from a greenhouse to an icehouse state ~350 million years ago. Some invoke a pronounced increase in continental […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Sample Return, Status Report
Phreatobacter aquiterrae sp. nov., Isolated From An Icelandic Subsurface Geothermal Aquifer
A novel bacterial strain, designated HK31-PT, was isolated from a deep subsurface geothermal aquifer in southwestern Iceland. Phylogenetic analyses, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, revealed that the strain was […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Ice Planet Cartography: First Cataloguing Of Lakes Beneath The Canadian Arctic
Researchers have created the first map of a network of subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic showing 33 bodies of water under glaciers.
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release
Icy Flow In A Crater On Mars
The material on the floor of this crater appears to have flowed like ice, and contains pits that might result from sublimation of subsurface ice. The surface is entirely dust-covered […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Update: Antarctica Retreat Study Signals Future Ice Loss
The ice along Antarctica’s ‘grounding lines’ has been largely stable over the past 30 years – but ice has retreated by more than 40 km in some areas, a new […]