Planet Four Talk

Partial and filling spider like crater?

  • Wounded_Knee by Wounded_Knee

    Is this an empty spider crater( is that an actual thing lol) to the right and a filling pair to the left?

    Posted

  • mschwamb by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to Wounded Knee's comment.

    So you're looking through a semitranslucent slab of carbon dioxide ice. So the dark stuff is actually on the surface of the ice and the spiders you're seeing or actually at the base of the ice sheet and carved in the dirt below the ice.
    ~Meg

    Posted

  • Wounded_Knee by Wounded_Knee

    Thanks, does the ice sheet lie flat or does it follow the contours of the land?

    Posted

  • Portyankina by Portyankina scientist in response to Wounded Knee's comment.

    We actually don't know. It is more natural to assume that it follows the topography smoothing it a bit, kind of like snow does on Earth. But on the second thought, channels offer some shadow and protection, so ice would condensing there more efficiently. As we can not really see this layer, it is hard to distinguish which is true.

    Anya

    Posted