The planet
Mars has two permanent
polar ice caps. During a pole's winter, it lies in continuous darkness, chilling the surface and causing the
deposition of 25–30% of the atmosphere into slabs of
CO2 ice (
dry ice). When the poles are again exposed to sunlight, the frozen CO
2 sublimes, creating enormous winds that sweep off the poles as fast as 400 km/h. These seasonal actions transport large amounts of dust and water vapor, giving rise to Earth-like frost and large
cirrus clouds. Clouds of water-ice were photographed by the
Opportunity rover in 2004.