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Back Cracks on the surface of Mars may point to the existence of water

Cracks on the surface of Mars may point to the existence of water


Copyright: Nature & Victor R. Baker (University of Arizona)

This image from the Mars Orbiter Camera clearly shows large contraction-crack polygons which may have developed as a result of the repeated seasonal or episodic melting, freezing and movement of water in an active layer overlying an ice-rich permafrost zone. (The scale bar is 200 m.)

Image courtesy of Nature (http://www.nature.com/) and Victor R. Baker (University of Arizona)

From 'Water and the martian landscape' by Victor R. Baker, published in Nature v412, no.6843, pg228-236

Last Update: 1 September 2019
22-Apr-2026 23:09 UT

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