Seminar

The polygonal lake-ice on the Tibetan Plateau may give us some new insights into the formation of some ground patterns at the high latitude of the southern hemisphere of Mars. Those lakes on the Tibetan Plateau are characterized by their high elevation (>4000 m), shallow depth, strong evaporation, and long and cold winter. We find that many lakes are covered by polygonal networks, which are printed by aerosol deposits and therefore may make a long, geological record, like on Mars. The earth materials brought by dust storms fill the ice polygonal rims to make raised-rim polygonal structures. We find continuous evolution of the lake-ice polygons to polygonal patterns on the floor of dried lakes. We suggest the evolution of this type of polygonal webs under typically the climate and geographic conditions of the Tibetan Plateau can explain those polygonal webs at the high latitude of the southern hemisphere of Mars. We are still developing algorithms to compare the similarity between the polygonal patterns of these two environments with the consideration of geometries from units to the overall structure.

Additional Information: Mrs. Nadia BOPPART, nboppart@connect.hku.hk