Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

The State And Future Of Mars Polar Science And Exploration, Stephen M. Clifford, David Crisp, David A. Fisher, Ken E. Herkenhoff, Suzanne E. Smrekar, Peter C. Thomas, David D. Wynn-Williams, Richard W. Zurek, Jeffrey R. Barnes, Bruce G. Bills, Erik W. Blake, Wendy M. Calvin, Jonathan M. Cameron, Michael H. Carr, Philip R. Christensen, Benton C. Clark, Gary D. Clow, James A. Cutts, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, William B. Durham, Fraser P. Fanale, Jack D. Farmer, Francois Forget, Kumiko Gotto-Azuma, Rejean Grard, Robert M. Haberle, William Harrison, Ralph Harvey, Alan D. Howard, Andy P. Ingersoll, Philip B. James, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Hugh H. Kieffer, Janus Larsen, Kenneth Lepper, Michael C. Malin, Daniel J. Mccleese, Bruce Murray, John F. Nye, David A. Paige, Stephen R. Platte, Jef F J. Plaut, Niels Reeh, James W. Rice, David E. Smith, Carol R. Stoker, Kenneth L. Tanaka, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson, Stephen E. Wood, Aaron Zent, Maria T. Zuber, H. Jay Zwally

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

As the planet's principal cold traps, the martian polar regions have accumulated extensive mantles of ice and dust that cover individual areas of ~10⁶ km² and total as much as 3-4 km thick. From the scarcity of superposed craters on their surface, these layered deposits are thought to be comparatively young-preserving a record of the seasonal and climatic cycling of atmospheric CO₂, H₂O, and dust over the past ~10⁵-10⁸ years. For this reason, the martian polar deposits may serve as a Rosetta Stone for understanding the geologic and climatic history of …