The impossible becomes possible on the planet Mars: To understand the discovery and formation of frost

HIBAPRESS-RABAT- Nature Geoscience magazine

To understand the formation of frost on the Planet Mars, scientists explain that this frost would form due to a particular microclimate created by the circulation of air above the Tharsis volcanoes, in particular due to the magma chambers which form are emptied during past eruptions.

Researchers believe that air circulates in a particular way above Tharsis, creating a unique microclimate inside the volcanoes’ calderas that allows for the formation of frost patches.

These frost patches mainly form in the shaded regions of volcano calderas, where temperatures are colder. “Winds move up mountain slopes, bringing relatively moist air near the surface to higher altitudes, where it condenses and settles as frost,” explains co-author Nicolas Thomas, principal investigator of the system. color and stereoscopic surface imaging (CaSSIS) from TGO.