Icy valley in Australe Scupoli

A beautiful perspective view down an icy valley on Mars, reminiscent of a terrestrial ski slope complete with tracks made in the snow.

The dark and light layers are in fact alternating layers of ice and dust, a defining characteristic of the seasonal martian ice caps. Furthermore, hundreds of tightly packed dark fan-shaped features are visible, tracing out the boundaries between the layered deposits. These features result from jets of gas laden with dust bursting through the icy surface from below, the dust settling in an orientation indicative of the direction of the prevailing wind. 

The image was generated from the digital terrain model, from which the topography of the landscape can be derived, and the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. 

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[Image description: Perspective view looking down a wide valley. The valley floor and other slopes to the sides and in the distance have layers of dark and light material corresponding to dust and ice, respectively. Numerous dark dusty fan-shaped features follow the pattern of the layers.]