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Tiled Floor

Sept. 2, 2006
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows cracks formed in the material that nearly fills an impact crater on the martian northern plains.

2 September 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows polygonal cracks formed in the material that nearly fills an impact crater on the martian northern plains. The light-toned patches in the cracks are the remains of ice, left over from the preceding winter. On Earth, polygons such as these are most common in the polar regions, and form in the presence of ground ice. Whether the same is true for Mars remains to be determined, but, certainly, this is a good possibility.

Location near: 65.7°N, 277.5°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Spring

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