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Polygons and Craters

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows polygons enhanced by subliming seasonal frost in the martian south polar region. The circular features are degraded meteor impact craters.
PIA04212
Credits: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
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Description

3 September 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows polygons enhanced by subliming seasonal frost in the martian south polar region. Polygons similar to these occur in frozen ground at high latitudes on Earth, suggesting that perhaps their presence on Mars is also a sign that there is or once was ice in the shallow subsurface. The circular features are degraded meteor impact craters.

Location near: 72.2°S, 310.3°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring