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Science 21 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5845, pp. 1715 - 1718
DOI: 10.1126/science.1144120
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Reports

Accumulation and Erosion of Mars' South Polar Layered Deposits

Roberto Seu,1* Roger J. Phillips,2 Giovanni Alberti,3 Daniela Biccari,1 Francesco Bonaventura,4 Marco Bortone,3 Diego Calabrese,5 Bruce A. Campbell,6 Marco Cartacci,1 Lynn M. Carter,6 Claudio Catallo,5 Anna Croce,5 Renato Croci,5 Marco Cutigni,1 Antonio Di Placido,4 Salvatore Dinardo,3 Costanzo Federico,7 Enrico Flamini,8 Franco Fois,5 Alessandro Frigeri,7 Oreste Fuga,1 Emanuele Giacomoni,1 Yonggyu Gim,9 Mauro Guelfi,5 John W. Holt,10 Wlodek Kofman,11 Carlton J. Leuschen,12 Lucia Marinangeli,13 Paolo Marras,4 Arturo Masdea,1 Stefania Mattei,3 Riccardo Mecozzi,5 Sarah M. Milkovich,9 Antonio Morlupi,4 Jérémie Mouginot,11 Roberto Orosei,14 Claudio Papa,3 Tobia Paternò,4 Paolo Persi del Marmo,1 Elena Pettinelli,15 Giulia Pica,3 Giovanni Picardi,1 Jeffrey J. Plaut,9 Marco Provenziani,1 Nathaniel E. Putzig,2 Federica Russo,1 Ali Safaeinili,9 Giuseppe Salzillo,3 Maria Rosaria Santovito,3 Suzanne E. Smrekar,9 Barbara Tattarletti,4 Danilo Vicari4

Mars' polar regions are covered with ice-rich layered deposits that potentially contain a record of climate variations. The sounding radar SHARAD on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapped detailed subsurface stratigraphy in the Promethei Lingula region of the south polar plateau, Planum Australe. Radar reflections interpreted as layers are correlated across adjacent orbits and are continuous for up to 150 kilometers along spacecraft orbital tracks. The reflectors are often separated into discrete reflector sequences, and strong echoes are seen as deep as 1 kilometer. In some cases, the sequences are dipping with respect to each other, suggesting an interdepositional period of erosion. In Australe Sulci, layers are exhumed, indicating recent erosion.

1 Dipartimento INFOCOM, Università di Roma "La Sapienza," I-00184 Rome, Italy.
2 Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
3 Consorzio di Ricerca Sistemi di Telesensori Avanzati, I-80125 Naples, Italy.
4 Info Solution Spa, I-00131 Rome, Italy.
5 Thales Alenia Space Italia, I-00131 Rome, Italy.
6 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013–7012, USA.
7 Università di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
8 Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, I-00198 Rome, Italy.
9 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
10 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758, USA.
11 CNRS and Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
12 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045–7612, USA.
13 International Research School of Planetary Sciences, I-65127 Pescara, Italy.
14 Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, I-00133 Rome, Italy.
15 Università Roma Tre, I-00146 Rome, Italy.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: roberto.seu{at}uniroma1.it

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