Defrosting Spots Over Polygonal Ground - MRO HiRISE

These images were processed using HiView and The GIMP.

These images are crops from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE image ESP_012506_0850

The image is titled Defrosting Spots Over Polygonal Ground. That means something frozen is melting OVER the polygonal ground.



In the above image some type of ice is melting over polygonal ground. Link to full size image.



The above image has been white balanced and equalized. Link to full size image



The above image has been inverted. Link to full size image.

All the above images were taken in the visible light spectrum.



The above image was taken in the infrared light spectrum. Link to full size image.

What parts of this image are melting and where is the ground. To Be Contuniued.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
In the above image some type of ice is melting over polygonal ground.

Neat picture. What's the significance?

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Thank you. The ice is significance if I am not mistaken.

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
In the above image some type of ice is melting over polygonal ground.

Neat picture. What's the significance?

Global warming; damn Martians !

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Thank you. The ice is significance if I am not mistaken.

Perhaps the oceans didn't boil off, but froze up, got covered in sand, then water (or other liquid) melts and fills the cracks.

a reply to: stormcell

If that is true many of the dunns seen in Mars orbiter images may be wind shaped ice. Most of the dunes on Mars do not seem to be active.

a reply to: 727Sky

Must be all that methane gas coming from the Martian citys that are underground.

Just because it's ice doesn't mean it's water ice. Polygonal patterns on the ground is a common feature on Earth in sub-Arctic areas and is produced as frost and ice move the ground around.

originally posted by: stormcell

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Perhaps the oceans didn't boil off, but froze up, got covered in sand, then water (or other liquid) melts and fills the cracks.

Interesting idea. If that's the reality who knows what's under the layer of ice.

a reply to: OneBigMonkeyToo

That is true. There are other hints in the image that may show a flowing liquid. Liquid does and has flown on Mars.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Years ago, maybe 10 or more, I was looking at Mars photos taken by one of the rovers when I saw one of a small white patch of ice in the shade underneath the rover. Another photo was taken of the spot once the sun had shone on it which showed a dark, wet-looking streak where apparently the ice had melted and had ran downhill for a short distance before soaking into the soil. I remember being flabbergasted by it and wondering why this wasn't all over the news.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

I remember that too, I think it was called the Mars polar lander or something like that. A few websites covered it but that was about it. It also had a microscope that produced some interesting images.

originally posted by: LookingAtMars
Liquid does and has flown on Mars.

I don't think there is any debate about the "has" part. But there's nothing that definitively indicates "does."

a reply to: Blue Shift

There are images that show condensation drops flowing down the Polar Lander legs if I am not mistaken. Why does NASA say MSL must not go near slope streaks? There can be no "real proof" till we put boots on the ground, but most scientests in the Mars community believe that there is liquid water on Mars, at times and in places, today.

The above image is the same location as the top images in the OP. It is an infrared image. Link to full size image.



The above image has been equalized and white balanced. Link to full size image.



The above image is a crop from the image that has been upscaled 200%. Link to full size image.

In these images the red is the dusty ground? The blues are dunes? The white is ice?

Why do we see much more color in the IR image? The visible image in the OP is basically black and white.



What created all these channels? Humps? Tubes? How old are they? Link to full size image.