Ice-rich mantling deposits accumulate from the atmosphere in the Martian mid-latitudes in cycles during periods of high obliquity (axial tilt), as recently as several million years ago.

These deposits accumulate over cycles in layers, and here in the southern mid-latitudes, where the deposits have mostly eroded away due to warmer temperatures, small patches of the remnant layered deposits can still be observed.

ID: ESP_048897_2125
date: 31 December 2016
altitude: 292 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_048897_2125
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
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