New images from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter reveal pink, purple, and red tones around Thyles Rupes in Mars’s south polar region. The feature is an icy escarpment more than one kilometre high and extending for hundreds of kilometres. Its unusual colours are produced by a mixture of dust and frost, while darker material contains volcanic minerals such as olivine and pyroxene. Pale bluish areas include frozen carbon dioxide, including seasonal frost that expands and contracts around the south polar cap.
The appearance also changes with local conditions: airborne dust, soft morning light, surface frost, and patches where ice and dust mix can all alter the scene. Thyles Rupes likely formed as Mars’s cooling crust contracted and pushed material upward, rather than through active plate tectonics. The observations show how orbital imaging can reveal surface composition, geological history, and seasonal processes on Mars.
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-red-planet-has-a-purple-side
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2026-09-18 19:55:36 UTC
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"content": "New images from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter reveal pink, purple, and red tones around Thyles Rupes in Mars’s south polar region. The feature is an icy escarpment more than one kilometre high and extending for hundreds of kilometres. Its unusual colours are produced by a mixture of dust and frost, while darker material contains volcanic minerals such as olivine and pyroxene. Pale bluish areas include frozen carbon dioxide, including seasonal frost that expands and contracts around the south polar cap.\n\nThe appearance also changes with local conditions: airborne dust, soft morning light, surface frost, and patches where ice and dust mix can all alter the scene. Thyles Rupes likely formed as Mars’s cooling crust contracted and pushed material upward, rather than through active plate tectonics. The observations show how orbital imaging can reveal surface composition, geological history, and seasonal processes on Mars.\n\nhttps://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-red-planet-has-a-purple-side",
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