Ab. Ivanov et Do. Muhleman, The role of sublimation for the formation of the northern ice cap: Resultsfrom the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, ICARUS, 144(2), 2000, pp. 436-448
The evolutionary history of the martian ice caps is practically known, and
the caps are key to understanding the climatic history of Mars. Sublimation
and ice flow are two hypotheses that have recently been suggested to expla
in the observed form of the northern ice cap. Here we present a sublimation
model and compare the shape of the cap obtained from this model with Mars
Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) observations of the north polar region. This
model can reproduce the shape of the cap and individual troughs. Sublimati
on is an important process as are how and wind erosion. We were able to con
strain the time scales of sublimation only to about two orders of magnitude
(1-100 million years). This estimate depends on many unknown parameters, s
uch as friction velocity and wind speed over the ice caps. These can be det
ermined only by direct measurement over the surface. (C) 2000 Academic Pres
s.