Incredible pictures show Mars’ gigantic crater filled with ice

There may or may not be liquid water on Mars, but there is for sure water ice and that too in large quantity as shown by recent enchanting pictures.

European Space Agency (ESA) recently released amazing look of one of the Red Planet’s crater that was brimming with plenty of water ice, making it one of the most mesmerizing looks ever seen.

The crater shown in the picture is an 81.4km diameter Korolev crater situated just south of the Olympia Undae dunes that circle the northern polar cap. The crater, as per Science Alert, is filled up almost to the brim with pristine ice all year-round, even if the seasons change.

The phenomena of constant ice presence is called ‘cold trap’. The floor is very deep, over 2km below the rim. From the floor, the crater raises a dome of water rice, which is 1.8km thick and up to 60km in diameter. The crater contains about 2,200 cubic kilometers of ice.

As the air travels over ice, the ice cools and sinks and hence a layer of cold air sits directly above the ice. The cold layer acts as an insulator that protects the ice from the warmer air, hence keeping it from melting.

The picture was captured by ESA’s 15-year-old Mars Express using its High Resolution Stereo Camera. The image originally comprised of five strips joined together to form a single unified picture.