Martian Ice Lake

The HRSC on ESA’s Mars Express obtained this perspective view on 2 February 2005 during orbit 1343 with a ground resolution of approximately 15 metres per pixel.

It shows an unnamed impact crater located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars’s far northern latitudes, at approximately 70.5° North and 103° East.

The crater is 35 kilometres wide and has a maximum depth of approximately 2 kilometres beneath the crater rim. The circular patch of bright material located at the centre of the crater is residual water ice.

The colours are very close to natural, but the vertical relief is exaggerated three times. The view is looking east.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Source: ESA | Water ice in crater at Martian north pole

/. “When methane was found in the Martian atmosphere last year, some scientists thought this was indirect evidence of methane-producing bacteria. But minerals such as olivine can create methane in a process known as serpentinization. Geologists calculated that a global, 50-centimetre-thick layer of olivine could account for the methane. One geologist said, ‘I’d love to see bugs, but you can’t just go on hope. You have to consider the geological options.’ Other scientists are unsure whether methane on Mars even exists.”

* Slashdot | Martian Methane May Come From Rocks

Slashdot | NASA’s Mars Polar Lander Found at Last?

[/.] visination.com writes “Recent ground based observations of Mars have confirmed the presence of water and methane. The 300 year life time of methane on Mars is short, giving scientists reason to beleive that Mars may be biologically active.” From the article: “Every one of these longitudes shows a very substantial enhancement in the equatorial zone…So this is a very intense source of methane on Mars in this region. It also requires a very rapid decay of methane…more rapid than photochemistry would allow…”

Slashdot | Biological Activity on Mars