Carbon Dioxide Landscape

7 July 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a mid-summer view of the south polar residual cap at full MOC resolution, 1.5 m (5 ft) per pixel. During each of the three summers since the start of the MGS mapping mission in March 1999, the scarps that form mesas and pits in the "Swiss cheese"-like south polar terrain have retreated an average of about 3 meters (~1 yard). The material is frozen carbon dioxide; another 3 meters or so of each scarp is expected to be removed during the next summer, in late 2005. This image is located near 86.0°S, 350.8°W, and covers an area about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the top/upper left.