Avalanche Season on Mars

Avalanche Season on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Every spring the sun shines on the side of the stack of layers at the North Pole of Mars known as the north polar layered deposits. The warmth destabilizes the ice and blocks break loose.

When they reach the bottom of the more than 500 meter tall cliff face, the blocks kick up a cloud of dust. The layers beneath are different colours and textures depending on the amount of dust mixed with ice. 

This image was captured on May 29, 2019 by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft at 13:14 local Mars time. 

Avalanche Season on Mars, full resolution. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Acquisition date: 29 May 2019 

Local Mars time 13:14 

Latitude (centered) 83.796° 

Longitude (East) 237.006° 

Spacecraft altitude 318.2 km (197.8 miles) 

Source: NASA,