Sublimation at Grain Boundaries of Polycrystalline CO2 Slab Ice: The Clue to the Strong Spring Albedo Increase of the Martian Seasonal Polar Caps

B Schmitt (1) , S. Philippe (1) , P. Beck (1) , O. Brissaud (1)

1 IPAG - Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble

Experiments show that dust sinking and thermal cracking are not efficient at increasing the reflectance as observed on the martian seasonal caps during spring, but grain boundary opening during sublimation of CO2 slab ice can do the job.

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

B Schmitt, S. Philippe, P. Beck, O. Brissaud. Sublimation at Grain Boundaries of Polycrystalline CO2 Slab Ice: The Clue to the Strong Spring Albedo Increase of the Martian Seasonal Polar Caps. Seventh International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration, Jan 2020, Ushuaia, Argentina. ⟨hal-03099206⟩