Ground cemented by ice cover the high latitudes of Mars, much as they do on Earth’s cold climates. A common landform that occurs in icy terrain are polygons.

Polygonal patterns form by winter cooling and contraction cracking of the frozen ground. Over time these thin cracks develop and coalesce into a honeycomb network, with a few meters spacing between neighboring cracks. Shallow troughs mark the locations of the underground cracks, which are clearly visible from orbit.

ID: PSP_008883_2245
date: 18 June 2008
altitude: 302 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/PSP_008883_2245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
#Mars #science #NASA