Eumenides Dorsum on Mars
This perspective view shows Eumenides Dorsum, part of Mars’s Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). The MFF consists of a series of wind-sculpted deposits measuring hundreds of kilometres across and several kilometres high. Found at the boundary between Mars’s highlands and lowlands, the deposits are possibly the biggest single source of dust on Mars, and one of the most extensive deposits on the planet.
But this dust seems to hide a secret. Over 15 years ago, ESA’s Mars Express studied the MFF, revealing that the dust covered massive deposits up to 2.5 km deep. From these early observations, it was unclear what the deposits were made of. A team of researchers has now explored the MFF again using newer Mars Express radar data and found the deposits to be even thicker than previously thought: up to 3.7 km thick. And now it’s clear that these radar signals match what we’d expect to see from layered deposits rich in water ice.
If melted, the ice locked up in the MFF would cover the entire planet in a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 m deep: the most water ever found in this part of Mars, and enough to fill Earth’s Red Sea.
[Image description: Greyscale image of a planetary surface. Hills, valleys and craters cover the surface.]
