Evidence of Ice-Rich Layered Deposits in the Medusae Fossae Formation of Mars

Subsurface reflectors in radar sounder data from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument aboard the Mars Express spacecraft indicate significant dielectric contrasts between layers in the Martian Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). Large density changes that create dielectric contrasts are less likely in deposits of volcanic ash, eolian sediments, and dust, and compaction models show that homogeneous fine-grained material cannot readily account for the inferred density and dielectric constant where the deposits are more than a kilometer thick. The presence of subsurface reflectors is consistent with a multi-layer structure of an ice-poor cap above an ice-rich unit analogous to the Martian Polar Layered Deposits. The volume of an ice-rich component across the entire MFF below a 300-600 m dry cover corresponds to a global equivalent layer of water of similar to 1.5 to similar to 2.7 m or similar to 30%-50% of the total estimated in the North Polar cap. The Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF), located near the equator of Mars along the dichotomy boundary between the lowlands of the northern hemisphere and the cratered highlands of the southern hemisphere, is one of the largest and least understood deposits on Mars. The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding radar sounder detects echoes in MFF deposits that occur between the surface and the base which are interpreted as layers within the deposit like those found in Polar Layered Deposits of the North and South Poles. The subsurface reflectors suggest transitions between mixtures of ice-rich and ice-poor dust analogous to the multi-layered, ice-rich polar deposits. An ice-rich part of the MFF deposit corresponds to the largest volume of water outside the polar caps, or a global equivalent layer of water of similar to 1.5 to similar to 2.7 m. Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding radar sounder data reveals layering in the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF) depositsLayers are likely due to transitions between mixtures of ice-rich and ice-poor dust, analogous to those in Polar Layered DepositsAn ice-rich portion of the MFF deposit may contain the largest volume of water in the equatorial region of Mars