The planet Mars has two permanent polar ice caps of water ice and some dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide, CO2). Above kilometer-thick layers of water ice permafrost, slabs of dry ice are deposited during a pole's winter, lying in continuous darkness, causing 25–30% of the atmosphere being deposited annually at either of the poles. When the poles are again exposed to sunlight, the frozen CO2 sublimes. These seasonal actions transport large amounts of dust and water vapor, giving rise to Earth-like frost and large cirrus clouds.
The caps at both poles consist primarily of water ice. Frozen carbon dioxide accumulates as a comparatively thin layer about one meter thick on the north cap in the northern winter, while the south cap has a permanent dry ice cover about 8 m thick. The northern polar cap has a diameter of about 1000 km during the northern Mars summer, and contains about 1.6 million cubic km of ice, which if spread evenly on the cap would be 2 km thick. (This compares to a volume of 2.85 million cubic km (km3) for the Greenland ice sheet.) The southern polar cap has a diameter of 350 km and a thickness of 3 km. The total volume of ice in the south polar cap plus the adjacent layered deposits has also been estimated at 1.6 million cubic km. Both polar caps show spiral troughs, which analysis of SHARAD ice penetrating radar has shown are a result of roughly perpendicular katabatic winds that spiral due to the Coriolis Effect.
The seasonal frosting of some areas near the southern ice cap results in the formation of transparent 1 m thick slabs of dry ice above the ground. With the arrival of spring, sunlight warms the subsurface and pressure from subliming CO2 builds up under a slab, elevating and ultimately rupturing it. This leads to geyser-like eruptions of CO2 gas mixed with dark basaltic sand or dust. This process is rapid, observed happening in the space of a few days, weeks or months, a rate of change rather unusual in geology—especially for Mars. The gas rushing underneath a slab to the site of a geyser carves a spider-like pattern of radial channels under the ice.
In 2018, Italian scientists reported that measurements of radar reflections may show a subglacial lake on Mars, below the surface of the southern polar layered deposits (not under the visible permanent ice cap), and about across; If confirmed, this would be the first known stable body of water on the planet. However, similar radar reflections are widespread across the pole, and may be indicative of solid minerals, radar interference, or saline ice instead of liquid water.
Shared features
Freezing of atmosphere Research based on slight changes in the orbits of spacecraft around Mars over 16 years found that each winter, approximately 3 trillion to 4 trillion tons of carbon dioxide freezes out of the atmosphere onto the winter hemisphere polar cap. This represents 12 to 16 percent of the mass of the entire Martian atmosphere. These observations support predictions from the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model—2010.
Layers
Both polar caps show layered features, called polar-layered deposits, that are thought to have formed over a series of ice ages. Information about the past climate of Mars may be eventually revealed in these layers, just as tree ring patterns and ice core data do on Earth. Both polar caps also display grooved features, probably caused by wind flow patterns. The grooves are also influenced by the amount of dust. The more dust, the darker the surface. The darker the surface, the more sublimation. There are other theories that attempt to explain the large grooves.
China's Zhurong rover that has studied the Utopia Planitia region of Mars has found dunes that lie in different directions. The bright barchans and dark longitudinal dunes is evidence that the predominant wind field underwent a roughly 70° change. The researchers believe the dunes were formed when the tilt changed and caused a shift in the winds. At about the same time, there are changes in the layers in the Martian northern ice caps.Liu, J., et al. 2023. Martian dunes indicative of wind regime shift in line with end of ice age. Nature
Deuterium enrichment Deuterium is a heavier isotope of hydrogen compared to the element's most common isotope, protium. This makes any celestial body's deuterium statistically much less prone to being carried into space by stellar wind compared to its protium. Evidence that Mars once had enough water to create a global ocean at least 137 m deep has been obtained from measurement of the HDO to H2O ratio over the north polar cap. In March 2015, a team of scientists published results showing that the polar cap ice is about eight times as enriched with deuterium as water in Earth's oceans. This means that Mars has lost a volume of water 6.5 times as large as that stored in today's polar caps. The water for a time may have formed an ocean in the low-lying Vastitas Borealis and adjacent lowlands (Acidalia, Arcadia and Utopia planitiae). Had the water ever all been liquid and on the surface, it would have covered 20% of the planet and in places would have been almost a mile deep.
This international team used ESO's Very Large Telescope, along with instruments at the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, to map out different isotopic forms of water in Mars's atmosphere over a six-year period.
North polar cap
The bulk of the northern ice cap consists of water ice; it also has a thin seasonal veneer of dry ice, solid carbon dioxide. Each winter the ice cap grows by adding 1.5 to 2 m of dry ice. In summer, the dry ice sublimates (goes directly from a solid to a gas) into the atmosphere. Mars has seasons that are similar to Earth's, because its rotational axis has a tilt close to our own Earth's (25.19° for Mars, 23.44° for Earth).
During each year on Mars as much as a third of Mars's thin carbon dioxide (CO2) atmosphere "freezes out" during the winter in the northern and southern hemispheres. Scientists have even measured tiny changes in the gravity field of Mars due to the movement of carbon dioxide.
The ice cap in the north is at a lower elevation (base at −5000 m, top at −2000 m) than the one in the south (base at 1000 m, top at 3500 m). It is also warmer, so all the frozen carbon dioxide disappears each summer. The part of the cap that survives the summer is called the north residual cap and is made of water ice, mixed with < 3% dust by mass. This water ice is believed to be as much as three kilometers thick, and its surface optical properties are similar to coarse-grained firn on Earth. The much thinner seasonal cap starts to form in the late summer to early fall when a variety of clouds form. Called the polar hood, the clouds drop precipitation which thickens the cap. The north polar cap is symmetrical around the pole and covers the surface down to about 60 degrees latitude. High resolution images taken with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor show that the northern polar cap is covered mainly by pits, cracks, small bumps and knobs that give it a cottage cheese look. The pits are spaced close together relative to the very different depressions in the south polar cap.
Both polar caps show layered features that are thought to have formed over a series of ice ages. These polar layered deposits lie under the permanent polar caps. Information about the past climate of Mars may be eventually revealed in these layers, just as tree ring patterns and ice core data do on Earth. Both polar caps also display grooved features, probably caused by wind flow patterns and sun angles, although there are several theories that have been advanced. The grooves are also influenced by the amount of dust. One large valley, Chasma Boreale runs halfway across the cap. It is about 100 km wide and up to 2 km deep—that's deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon.
When the tilt or obliquity changes the size of the polar caps can change. When the tilt is at its highest, the poles receive far more sunlight and for more hours each day. The extra sunlight causes the ice to sublimate, and water vapor to be transported to the mid-latitudes.
Research reported in 2009 shows that the ice rich layers of the ice cap match models for Martian climate swings. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's radar instrument can measure the contrast in electrical properties between layers. The pattern of reflectivity reveals the pattern of material variations within the layers. Radar produced a cross-sectional view of the north-polar layered deposits of Mars. High-reflectivity zones, with multiple contrasting layers, alternate with zones of lower reflectivity. Patterns of how these two types of zones alternate can be correlated to models of changes in the tilt of Mars. Since the top zone of the north-polar layered deposits—the most recently deposited portion—is strongly radar-reflective, the researchers propose that such sections of high-contrast layering correspond to periods of relatively small swings in the planet's tilt because the Martian axis has not varied much recently. Dustier layers appear to be deposited during periods when the atmosphere is dustier.
Research, published in January 2010 using HiRISE images, says that understanding the layers is more complicated than was formerly believed. The brightness of the layers does not just depend on the amount of dust. The angle of the sun together with the angle of the spacecraft greatly affect the brightness seen by the camera. This angle depends on factors such as the shape of the trough wall and its orientation. Furthermore, the roughness of the surface can greatly change the albedo (amount of reflected light). In addition, many times what one is seeing is not a real layer, but a fresh covering of frost. All of these factors are influenced by the wind which can erode surfaces. The HiRISE camera did not reveal layers that were thinner than those seen by the Mars Global Surveyor. However, it did see more detail within layers.
Radar measurements of the north polar ice cap found the volume of water ice in the layered deposits of the cap was , which is equal to 30% of the Earth's Greenland ice sheet. (The layered deposits overlie an additional basal deposit of ice.) The radar is on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
SHARAD radar data when combined to form a 3D model reveal buried craters. These may be used to date certain layers.
In February 2017, ESA released a new view of Mars's North Pole. It was a mosaic made from 32 individual orbits of the Mars Express.
In a paper published in Nature in 2023, researches found an abrupt brightness increase in the northern ice cap layers that happened at roughly 0.4 million years ago. This change may have caused changes in wind direction that are seen in regions explored by the Zhurong rover.Liu, J., et al. 2023. Martian dunes indicative of wind regime shift in line with end of ice age. Nature
South polar cap