Image Detail 1: Remnants of glaciations in Deuteronilus Mensae
Image Detail 1: Remnants of glaciations in Deuteronilus Mensae
Numerous signs of former glaciations, such as the structure in the centre of this image, can be seen in the plains between the 1000- to 2000-metre-high mesas in Deuteronilus Mensae. This is a glacier covered by rock debris. Radar measurements have shown that there is still ice beneath the visible surface, protected from sublimation (the direct transition from a solid to a gaseous state) by the covering of rock debris. The plateaus in the left and right thirds of the image also originate from ice, which began to flow slowly and plastically under its own weight and the additional sediment load. As a result, the debris aprons at the foot of the slopes were carried away from the mesas.
