Step-like layers in a crater in the Arabia Terra region of Mars hint at past climate swings (Image: NASA/JPL/U of Arizona) Erosional mounds inside a crater show rhythmic layering in this false-colour image (Image: NASA/JPL/U of Arizona) Two scales of stratification appear in this false-colour image of a crater called Becquerel. Each thin layer – measuring a few metres tall – may have been laid down during a 120,000-year cycle in which Mars tilts back and forth on its axis. Those thin layers are bundled together in groups of 10, which probably correspond to modulations in the strength of…
Martian rock steps mark past climate swings
10 December 2008
