(MENAFN- AzerNews) Seasonal, spider-like features have been spotted sproutingthrough cracks in Mars' surface, Azernews reportsciting Space .
The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter captured newimages of small, dark features that resemble spiders scuttlingacross the Martian region known as Inca City near the Red Planet'ssouth pole.
This phenomenon appears when spring sunlight warms layers ofcarbon dioxide deposited during the dark Martian winter. In turn,carbon dioxide ice in the bottom layer turns into gas, which buildsup and eventually breaks through overlying ice up to 3.3 feet (1meter) thick, according to a statement from ESA.
The released gas carries dark dust from the underlying groundupward, ultimately forcing the dust to explode out of the top icelayers like water from a geyser before settling on the surface creates the cracked, spidery formations measuring 0.03 to 0.6miles (45 meters to 1 kilometer) across.
Mars' Inca City, formally known as Angustus Labyrinthus,exhibits a linear, almost geometric network of ridges like the Incaruins on Earth. It is part of a circular feature approximately 53miles (86 km) wide, suggesting it may be an impact crater withridges formed by lava rising through the fractured Martian crustand eroding over time.
"We're still not sure exactly how Inca City formed," ESAofficials said in the statement. "It could be that sand dunes haveturned to stone over time. Perhaps material such as magma or sandis seeping through fractured sheets of martian rock. Or, the ridgescould be 'eskers,' winding structures related to glaciers."
The most recent images of Inca City were taken by Mars Express'High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Feb. 27, 2024, during theautumn season on Mars. The Cassis (Color and Stereo Surface ImagingSystem) instrument aboard ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiterpreviously documented the same spider-like features near Mars'south pole on Oct. 4, 2020. The next Martian spring equinox will beon November 12, 2024.
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