New category of surface material

Before TES, scientists knew Mars has bright, fine-grain material (mostly dust) and dark, rocky material (essentially exposed bedrock). TES discovered a third type of surface material, medium in brightness and neither dusty nor rocky. The new surface material may consist of sediments that were once loose but have become cemented.

TES discovered a new category of surface material. Before TES, scientists knew Mars has bright, fine-grain material (mostly dust) and dark, rocky material (essentially exposed bedrock). TES discovered a third type of surface material (arrow), medium in brightness and neither dusty nor rocky. The new surface material may consist of sediments that were once loose but have become cemented.

References

  • Mellon, M. T., B. M. Jakosky, H. H. Kieffer, and P. R. Christensen, High resolution thermal inertia mapping from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer, Icarus, 148, 437-455, 2000.