Planum Australe, taken by Mars Global Surveyor.

Planum Australe (Latin: "the southern plain") is the southern polar plain on Mars. It extends southward of roughly 75°S. This geology of this region was to be explored by the failed NASA mission Mars Polar Lander, which lost contact on entry into the Martian atmosphere. Computer generated image of Global Surveyor spacecraft (NASA) The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is an US spacecraft. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Conceptual drawing of the Mars Polar Lander on the surface of Mars. ... Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has a very different atmosphere from that of Earth. ...

Ice cap

Planum Australe is partially covered by a permanent ice cap comprised of frozen water and carbon dioxide about 3 km thick. A seasonal ice cap forms on top of the permanent one during the Martian winter, extending from 60°S southwards. It is, at the height of winter, approximately 1 metre thick. ^[1]. It is possible that the area of this ice cap may be shrinking due to Martian global warming. ^[2] An ice cap is a dome-shaped ice mass that covers less than 50,000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area). ... Impact of a drop of water. ... Dry ice is a genericized trademark for solid (frozen) carbon dioxide. ... The metre, or meter (US), is a measure of length. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1856 to 2005 Mean surface temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans in recent decades. ...

Data from ESA's Mars Express indicates that there are three main parts to the ice cap. The most reflective part of the ice cap is approximately 85% dry ice and 15% water ice. The second part, where the ice cap forms steep slopes at the boundary with the surrounding plain, is almost exclusively water ice. Finally, the ice cap is surrounded by permafrost fields that extend for tens of kilometres north away from the scarps. ^[3] This article is about the European Space Agency. ... Concept model of the Mars Express spacecraft Mars Express is a Mars exploration mission of the European Space Agency and the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. ... In geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is soil that stays in a frozen state for more than two years in a row. ... km redirects here. ...

Features

There are two distinct subregions in Planum Australe - Australe Lingula and Promethei Lingula. It is dissected by canyons Promethei Chasma, Ultimum Chasma, Chasma Australe and Australe Sulci. It is theorised that these canyons were created by katabatic wind.^[4] The largest crater in Planum Australe is McMurdo Crater. A katabatic wind, from the Greek word katabatikos meaning going downhill, is a wind that blows down a topographic incline such as a hill, mountain, or glacier. ...

References

1. ^ Mars is Melting. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
2. ^ Global warming on Mars?. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
3. ^ Water at Martian south pole. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
4. ^ (April 2006)"Accumulation and erosion of south polar layered deposits in the Promethei Lingula region, Planum Australe, Mars". The Mars Journal 2: 1-9.

2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. ...

External links

• Accumulation and erosion of south polar layered deposits in the Promethei Lingula region, Planum Australe, Mars
• Planum Australe on Google Mars.
• Stratigraphy and Topography of McMurdo Crater area, Planum Australe, Mars
• Topographic maps of the Martian South Pole
• USGS map of Planum Australe