This image is located in the South Polar region of Mars and was suggested by Richard Smith’s class at Titusville High School in Titusville, FL.

In this image, we can see “spiders” likely caused by the sublimation of carbon dioxide ice. (Sublimation means the change of this ice from a solid directly to a gas.) As this happens, the gas moves through channels until it reaches the surface and vents out. These vents show up as the dark streaks because they carry dust and dirt up to the surface.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.