Catalog Page for PIA04670

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PIA04670: South Polar Scarps

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a series of curving scarps formed by erosion and sublimation of carbon dioxide from Mars' south polar cap.

Target Name:	Mars
Is a satellite of:	Sol (our sun)
Mission:	Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Spacecraft:	Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
Instrument:	Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Product Size:	540 x 810 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	Malin Space Science Systems
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA04670.tif (433.7 kB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA04670.jpg (69.98 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-438, 31 July 2003

The terrain of the south polar residual ice cap, made up mostly of frozen carbon dioxide, has come to be known by many as "swiss cheese terrain," because many areas of the cap resemble slices of swiss cheese. However, not all of the south polar cap looks like a tasty lunch food. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a series of curving scarps formed by erosion and sublimation of carbon dioxide from the south polar cap. This area is located near 86.3°S, 51.2°W. The image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left; the area is about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide.

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:

2003-07-31