Possible ice-wedge polygons and recent landscape modification by “wet” periglacial processes in and around the Argyre impact basin, Mars

Third, on Earth the “dryness” or the “wetness” of a permafrost environment determines whether LCP margins are underlain by sand or by ice. When the observed LCPs and major deposits of sand in the study region are plotted on our new map of the Argyre impact-basin, we see that these deposits are rarely proximal. On the other hand, the LDM underlies the LCPs in all instances and, if modified by thaw, seems to be a likelier source of margin fill for the LCPs than sand.