This image in the South Polar region of Mars covers Swiss cheese terrain, which is so named due to the circular pits formed by seasonally sublimating carbon dioxide ice.

Sometimes the pits join or connect, forming other shapes, such as the Martian mustaches we see here (the sunlight is coming from the bottom right of the image, and the image is about 430 meters, or 470 yards, across). Another interesting feature of this unearthly scene, which was taken during southern summer, is the cracking visible in the translucent layer of carbon dioxide ice that covers the smooth areas between the pits.

ID: ESP_084720_0930
date: 22 August 2024
altitude: 248 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_084720_0930
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA