South
polar layered deposits (SPLD) on Mars show repeated deposition and erosion, in this HiRISE
image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The
deposits represent an accumulation of largely water ice and dust, not unlike
the ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica. Together with the north polar layered deposits, the SPLD represent
a record of global climate change on Mars.
The bottom
of this image shows layering cut off by deposits which partially fill two broad
valleys, the latter probably cut into the SPLD by wind erosion. Other more
recent deposits appear to cover the upper part of the SPLD at left, but erosion
there has also expose layering within them.
--University of Arizona and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of
Arizona
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