Dix Planetary Science Seminar

Abstract: The layered deposits at Mars' north and south poles have long been thought to contain a record of climate related to ice deposition. Radar observations from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have contributed immensely to our toolkit for studying those layers, and we are starting to better understand how climate signals are recorded in the ice caps. In this talk I will introduce polar cap stratigraphy and present evidence for two climatic shifts, one using H2O ice on the north pole that details a glacial/inter-glacial cycle, and another looking at periodic CO2 deposition from partial atmospheric collapse in the south. I'll also discuss flowing ice, migrating spiral troughs, and new investigations at lower latitudes of sedimentary deposits and sequential lava flows . This talk will include many pretty pictures.