Rock glaciers are a potential water source on Mars.
A rock glacier is similar to a traditional ice glacier, but it's filled with far larger quantities of rocks and sand. That debris is commonly picked up when ice glaciers melt and refreeze at the base of mountains, where that rocky debris often gathers. Because of their composition, rock glaciers are typically much smaller than ice glaciers, though they both move very slowly over time.
Now if Martian rock glaciers are very similar to those on Earth, they might hold water ice that could be harvested by future Mars explorers.
University of Arizona doctoral student Tyler Meng surveys the Sourdough Rock Glacier in Alaska in 2021.
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