These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express, show an enigmatic landscape in the Australe Scopuli region of the planet’s southern hemisphere, not far from the ‘cryptic terrain’ we explored in October.

Here, swirls of carbon dioxide ice and dust layers wrap around the scene, turning the Red Planet white. The contrasting light and dark layers are particularly striking in the exposed faces of hills and valleys. They trace out the distinctive seasonal polar layered deposits characteristic of this region, formed as layers of ice freeze with varying amounts of dust trapped within.