Premium Compositions of subsurface ices at the Mars Phoenix landing sitePremium
Author(s)
Cull Selby,
Arvidson Raymond E.,
Mellon Michael T.,
Skemer Philip,
Shaw Amy,
Morris Richard V.
Publication year2010
Publication title
geophysical research letters
Resource typeJournals
PublisherAmerican Geophysical Union
NASA's Phoenix Lander uncovered two types of ice at its 2008 landing site on the northern plains of Mars: a brighter, slab‐like ice that broke during Robotic Arm operations; and a darker icy deposit. Spectra from the Phoenix Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) are used to demonstrate that the brighter material consists of nearly pure water ice, which probably formed by migration and freezing of liquid water. The darker icy material consists of ∼30 ± 20 wt% ice, with the remainder composed of fine‐grained soil, indicating that it probably formed as pore ice. These two types of ice represent two different emplacement mechanisms and periods of deposition.
Subject(s)archaeology , astrobiology , earth science , environmental science , exploration of mars , geography , geology , mars exploration program , mars landing , metropolitan area , phoenix , physics
Language(s)English
SCImago Journal Rank2.007
H-Index273
eISSN1944-8007
pISSN0094-8276
DOI10.1029/2010gl045372
Seeing content that should not be on Zendy? Contact us.