8 December 2008

Mars Art: Rhythmic Layers

Posted by Ryan Anderson

This week’s Mars Art image also happens to be the subject of an interesting new finding. A new paper in Science details the discovery of a set of layered deposits in Arabia Terra that appear to match the Martian Climate cycle. Mars’ tilt wobbles around and causes the climate to change with it. It follows the general pattern of ten smaller wobbles in between larger wobbles. The layers shown in this week’s picture follow the same pattern, with layers occuring in bunches of ten. So, not only are these layers cool-looking, they also contain some really interesting science. Check out the press release for more info, and the multimedia page for some cool videos that simulate flying over the layers.

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