Soil texture and granulometry at the surface of Mars
Attention is given to a characterization of the physical behavior of the Martian upper surface in its first few decimeters on the basis of mutual relationships between three parameters: the linear polarization of the reflected light, the visual albedo, and the thermal inertia. Polarimetric scans raked a strip covering two contrasting regions, the dark-hued Mare Erythraeum, and the light-hued Thaumasia. Erythraeum is characterized everywhere by a uniform polarization response, despite the large geomorphological diversity of the surface. A ubiquitous coating or mantling with small dark grains of albedo 12.7 percent, with a radius of 10 to 20 microns, is indicated. Thaumasia exhibits a large variety of soil properties. A typical location with albedo of 16.3 percent has a surface covered with orange grains, probably very dispersed in size, for which the largest grains are 20 to 40 microns.