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Defrosting Patterns

Aug. 8, 2005
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows bright (and a few dark) wind streaks formed in the defrosting carbon dioxide of Mars' south polar seasonal frost cap.

8 August 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows bright (and a few dark) wind streaks formed in the defrosting carbon dioxide of the south polar seasonal frost cap. Unknown is whether the streaks form when wind picks up, moves, and deposits ice particles, or whether wind erodes down into the ice to form the streak pattern.

Location near: 86.7°S, 295.5°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring

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