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Planetary science

Mars on dry ice

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 10–11 (2016)Cite this article

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Martian gullies have been seen as evidence for past surface water runoff. However, numerical modelling now suggests that accumulation and sublimation of carbon dioxide ice, rather than overland flow of liquid water, may be driving modern gully formation.

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Figure 1: Martian gullies in Lyell crater, with seasonally occurring dark spots concentrated along the channels that are thought to be caused by the defrosting of CO2 ice.

NASA/JPL/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

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  1. Colin Dundas is at the Astrogeology Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, USA,

    Colin Dundas

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  1. Colin Dundas
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Correspondence to Colin Dundas.

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Dundas, C. Mars on dry ice. Nature Geosci 9, 10–11 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2625

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