Widespread pseudo-perennial water ice patches at high northern latitudes on Mars

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理 Q2 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Icarus Pub Date : 2025-06-04 DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116689

Colin M. Dundas , Michael T. Mellon , Aditya R. Khuller , Vidhya Ganesh Rangarajan

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Abstract

The distribution and stability state of Martian water ice deposits are of great interest for understanding recent climate history. Perennial surface ice deposits are rare, but in many regions ice occurs in the subsurface. We observe that summertime meter-scale bright patches are widespread on the plains around the North Polar Layered Deposits. These patches can persist long after disappearance of most seasonal frost but are variable both spatially and year-to-year. These are interpreted as persistent water frost under conditions very near those for perennial surface ice stability. Near this stability point, summer sublimation amounts should be very sensitive to small differences in albedo and thermal inertia, allowing significant variation in the survival time of the patches. Conditions favorable for such pseudo-perennial surface ice are also favorable for current or recent subsurface accumulation. This suggests that the north polar region may be a depositional sink for unstable ice inferred to be receding elsewhere on the planet.

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火星北部高纬度地区广泛分布的伪常年水冰斑块

火星水冰沉积物的分布和稳定状态对了解近期气候历史具有重要意义。常年的地表冰沉积是罕见的，但在许多地区冰发生在地下。我们观察到，夏季米尺度的亮斑在北极层状沉积物周围的平原上广泛存在。这些斑块可以在大多数季节性霜冻消失后持续很长时间，但在空间和年之间都是可变的。这些被解释为在非常接近常年表面冰稳定性的条件下持续的水霜。在这个稳定点附近，夏季升华量应该对反照率和热惯性的微小差异非常敏感，从而允许斑块存活时间的显著变化。有利于这种伪多年生地表冰的条件也有利于当前或最近的地下冰的积累。这表明，北极地区可能是不稳定冰的沉积汇，据推测，这些冰在地球的其他地方正在消退。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Icarus 地学天文-天文与天体物理

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

18.80%

发文量

356

审稿时长

2-4 weeks

期刊介绍： Icarus is devoted to the publication of original contributions in the field of Solar System studies. Manuscripts reporting the results of new research - observational, experimental, or theoretical - concerning the astronomy, geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, biology, and other scientific aspects of our Solar System or extrasolar systems are welcome. The journal generally does not publish papers devoted exclusively to the Sun, the Earth, celestial mechanics, meteoritics, or astrophysics. Icarus does not publish papers that provide "improved" versions of Bode''s law, or other numerical relations, without a sound physical basis. Icarus does not publish meeting announcements or general notices. Reviews, historical papers, and manuscripts describing spacecraft instrumentation may be considered, but only with prior approval of the editor. An entire issue of the journal is occasionally devoted to a single subject, usually arising from a conference on the same topic. The language of publication is English. American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these.