[Mars Polar Caps]
By: Ryan and Reina
General Info About the Polar Caps
• Knowledge that the martian polar caps consist
almost entirely of water ice goes back only a
few years
• Mars has ice caps at both its north and south
poles
• Permanent portion of the north polar cap
consists almost entirely of water ice
Before the Discovery
• Caps were mostly carbon dioxide and small
amount was water
• idea dates back to 1966, when the first Mars
spacecraft determined that
the Martian atmosphere was largely carbon
dioxide
• Scientists at the time thought that ice caps
themselves were solid carbon dioxide and that
the caps regulate the atmospheric pressure by
evaporation and condensation
North/South Polar Caps
• After the observation by the Viking orbiters:
 North contains water ice underneath the
dry ice
 South contains mostly dry ice
• In 2003, thermal images from Mars Global
Surveyor and Mars Odyssey dis covered that
both caps are mostly made by ice covered by a
layer of carbon dioxide
• By this they thought both south and
North are about the same material
What does is look like??
• Circular pits 8 meters deep and 200 to 1,000 m in
diameter (est..) , and an outward growth rate of
about one to three meters per year
What does the Polar Caps Mean?
• Means that Mars could have been warm and wet to
begin with
• Based on the evidence discovered, one would
assume that there was once sufficient carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere to trap enough solar
energy to warm the planet, but there's not enough
carbon dioxide locked in the poles for this to clearly
have been the case
• or it could be that the subterranean plumbing would allow
for liquid water to be sealed off underneath the
surface video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUhh
F5-aYw&feature=related
Works Cited
Cain, Fraser. "Mars Polar Caps." Universe Today.
Universe Today, 9 June 2008. Web. 15 Apr.
2011.
<http://www.universetoday.com/14946/marspolar-caps/>.
"Mars Polar Cap Mystery Solved." Mars News, Science,
Technology at MarsDaily.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_Polar_Cap_Myst
ery_Solved_999.html>.
"Polar Caps of Mars." The Worlds of David Darling. The
Internet Encyclopedia of Science. Web.
15
Apr. 2011.
<http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/Marspoles.ht
ml>.