I am pretty sure this image of Mars has the most detail of any I have taken. The atmosphere was quite steady when the planet cleared the trees. As indicated in the illustration, this image is south up.
The large dark area running north from the equator is Syrtis Major which is now known to be a large shield volcano. The dark volcanic basaltic rock gives the area the dark appearance.
 Mars [(V)R:6865×0.21ms; |
 The Mars illustration is courtesy of WinJUPOS. |
Mars’ northern hemisphere winter solstice was on September 02. Just like here on Earth, the northern hemisphere winter solstice signals the start of summer in the southern hemisphere. If you compare this image with the one taken on the 17 of August, you will notice the south pole ice cap is slightly smaller as the summer weather sublimates the ice.
Of course, the northern hemisphere solstice means winter is starting there and the northern ice cap will start growing. It will grow due to precipitation from clouds that form over the pole. These clouds are called a polar hood. There is just a hint of the blue clouds along the northern edge of the planet.