Frosty avalanches, gas geysers and powerful explosions: what spring looks like on Mars. Photos and videos

No champagne bubbles, but with gas geysers and frosty avalanches – this is how you can celebrate 2025 on Mars. However, the new year begins on the Red Planet with the beginning of spring in its northern hemisphere.

A year on Mars lasts 687 Earth days, with the beginning of a temperature increase and a significant change in the season from winter to spring. The atmosphere on the Red Planet is significantly different from the Earth's, Space.com writes.

Serina Digneha, an expert who studies planetary surfaces at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, noted that earthlings are used to seeing snow melting in early spring. But on Mars, everything is different. "Instead of melting, you can see a lot of cracks and explosions on the Red Planet, and I think it's really noisy," the scientist said.

The atmosphere on Mars is very unique compared to the Earth's, the researchers say. For example, when ice melts, the liquid does not form puddles on the surface, but instead, sublimation occurs, which turns solid ice directly into gas.

According to the experts, the sudden shift can be quite strong, as both dry ice (composed of carbon dioxide) and regular ice (composed of water) become much weaker and begin to break.

Scientists observe these phenomena on the Red Planet with the help of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). This NASA spacecraft has been operating since 2005, providing images from the surface of Mars.

"The data we get is a reminder of how different Mars is from Earth, especially in the spring when these surface changes are most noticeable. Observations by the MRO spacecraft for almost 20 years have allowed us to see dramatic phenomena such as avalanches," added Serina Dignegha.

Frost avalanches

As temperatures rise seasonally, pieces of frost, made up of carbon dioxide, begin to break apart and fall to the surface. This process was recorded in 2015 when a 20-meter-wide block broke off and was photographed in midair falling to the ground, the researchers said.

Gas geysers

According to scientists, geysers on Mars do not spew clear water, but dark debris from beneath the surface, which is carried by gas emissions. When the Sun turns ice into gas underground, the buildup becomes so powerful that it eventually spews the dark material into the air, leaving dark marks on the surface of the Red Planet.

Surface "Spiders"

Using simulations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), researchers were able to recreate what the surface of Mars would look like after sublimation with ice near some of the northern geysers. And these eruptions look like giant spiders, experts say.

Wild winds

Interestingly, the north pole of Mars has an ice cap the size of the state of Texas in the spring. Scientists say that while warm, strong winds swirl across the region when the ice melts, deep troughs are cut. As a result, a swirling pattern forms on top of the ice cap, which was captured by a NASA research device.

Drifting dunes

Another fantastic sight to see in the spring on Mars is the changing shape of the sand dunes by the warm and wild winds that affect the north pole, experts say. Martian dunes are formed and migrate when the amount of sand increases on one side, while the wind throws it away on the other.

Interestingly, in winter, frost forms on the tops of the sand dunes from carbon dioxide, which freezes and holds them in place until the spring thaw allows them to move again, scientists say.

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