Public domain
Lace on Mars
From the collection of NASA Image and Video Library. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Some seasonal ice on Mars is transparent so that the sunlight penetrates to the bottom of the ice. Heat from this sunlight can turn the ice directly into a gas in a process called sublimation and this gas can scour channels in the loose dirt under the ice. Channels formed by sublimation of a layer of seasonal dry ice are so dense in this area that they look like lace. Gas flow erodes channels as it escapes to the surface of the overlying seasonal ice layer seeking the path of least resistance.
NASA Image and Video Library’s own descriptionCredit lineLace on Mars. NASA/JPL, 2016-12-21. Public domain. ID: PIA14451.
