Spatio-Temporal Level Variations of the Martian Seasonal North Polar Cap From Co-Registration of MOLA ProfilesShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, ISSN 2169-9097, E-ISSN 2169-9100, Vol. 127, no 10, article id e2021JE007158Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The seasonal deposition and sublimation of CO2 constitute a major element in Martian volatile cycles. We reprocess the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data and apply co-registration procedures to obtain spatio-temporal variations in levels of the Seasonal North Polar Cap (SNPC). The maximum level over the Residual North Polar Cap (RNPC) is 1.3 m, approximately half of that at the south pole (2.5 m). However, the maximum level in the dune fields at Olympia Undae can be up to 3.8 m. Furthermore, off-season decreases up to 3 m during the northern winter at Olympia Undae are observed. These are likely due to metamorphism effects accentuated by the reduced snowfall at this period. Meanwhile, off-season increases of up to 2 m during the northern spring are noted, the cause of which remains to be explored. The volume of the SNPC peaks at the end of northern winter and is estimated to be approximately 9.6 × 1012 m3, which is 2% more than that of the Seasonal South Polar Cap. The bulk density of the SNPC can go through phased decreases in accordance with phased accumulation at northern high-latitudes. These findings can put important constraints on the Martian volatile cycling models.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2022. Vol. 127, no 10, article id e2021JE007158
Keywords [en]
Mars, seasonal polar cap, CO2 ice, MOLA, level variation, pseudo cross-over
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Research subject
Atmospheric science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-93974DOI: 10.1029/2021JE007158ISI: 000869744000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85141735610OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-93974DiVA, id: diva2:1709802
Note
Validerad;2022;Nivå 2;2022-11-09 (hanlid);
Funder: China Scholarship Council; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB-TRR 170); DLR BigData Querschnittsplattform; Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
2022-11-092022-11-092022-12-06Bibliographically approved