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The Martian ice cap is like a cake with every layer telling a story. In this case, the story is one of climate change on Mars.

In this image is an exposed section of the north polar layered deposits (NPLD). Like a delicious slice of layered tiramisu, the NPLD is made up of water-ice and dust particles stacked one on top of the other. However, instead of icing, layers are topped with seasonal carbon dioxide frost. We can observe lingering frost adhering to one of the layers.

The high-resolution and color capabilities of HiRISE provide details on the variations in the layers. Scientists are also using radar data, which show us that they have continuity in the subsurface. During deposition, these complex layers might encapsulate tiny air pockets from the atmosphere which, if sampled, could be studied to understand linkages to previous climates.

In the end, it's not always a piece of cake studying NPLD on Mars but, where there is cake, there is hope!

The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 31.9 centimeters [12.6 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 96 centimeters [37.8 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.