The North pole of Mars is colder then previously thought, according to new data from NASA. This means any Martian Inuit-types would have to be deeper under the surface than previously thought, assuming they need liquid water to survive.

“We found that the rocky surface of Mars is not bending under the load of the north polar ice cap,” explains Roger Phillips, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder (press release). “This implies that the planet’s interior is more rigid, and thus colder, than we thought before.”

The finding is detailed in a new paper in Science.

Phillips also found layers on the poles, with fine layers of ice and dust separated by thick layers of pure ice. This was likely caused by changes in the tilt of the planet’s axis, from the LA Times:

When the planet tilts strongly on its axis, the surface ice erodes and is covered by a layer of dust, Phillips said. Then, “every million years or so,” he said, the planet tilts less, meaning less sunlight falls directly on the pole. At that point, a layer of clean ice is laid down.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the surface is cold, just that the lithosphere is.

More

Any Possible Mars Water or Life Is Deep Below Surface – National Geographic

Radar map peels back secrets of Martian north pole – AFP

Brrr! Mars colder than previously thought – Space.com

Image: north polar ice cap on Mars / NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems