Swiss cheese features

Swiss cheese features (SCFs) are curious pits in the south polar ice cap of Mars and were first identified in 2000 using Mars Orbiter Camera imagery. [cite journal| last=Thomas | coauthors=et al.| journal=Science| year=2000] They are typically a few hundred meters across, have a flat base with steep sides, and are shallow, typical depth is 8 metres. They tend to have similar bean-like shapes, with a cusp which points towards the south pole, indicating insolation is involved in their formation. As the seasonal frost disappears their walls appear to darken considerably relative to the surrounding terrain. Due to the way that the SCFs have been observed to grow in size, year by year, at an average rate of 1 to 3 meters, it is hypothesised that they are formed in a thin layer (8m) of carbon dioxide ice lying on top of water ice. [cite web | title = A Sublimation Model for the Formation of the Martian Polar Swiss-cheese Features
author = Byrne, S.; Ingersoll, A. P.
publisher = American Astronomical Society
url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002DPS....34.0301B
accessdate = 2007-02-22]

References

ee also

*Climate of Mars
*Martian spiders