Climate-driven shifts in Mars’ axial tilt control ice redistribution, leaving crater deposits that record past climate and potential habitability. (IMAGE)
Caption
Changes in Mars’ axial tilt (obliquity) drive shifts between polar ice caps at low obliquity and widespread mid-latitude glaciation at high obliquity. These cycles result in ice accumulating inside craters, from thin and localized deposits to thick, extensive fills. Such ice-rich deposits not only record Mars’ past climate variations but may also mark potential zones of past habitability.
Credit
Associate Professor Trishit Ruj from Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Japan.
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