regolith
REG-uh-lith
Definition
The layer of loose, heterogeneous, superficial deposits of dust, soil, and broken rock fragments covering solid bedrock on a planet or moon.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Greek roots 'rhegos' (blanket) and 'lithos' (stone), coined in 1897 by geologist George P. Merrill to describe the layer of mantle rock that covers solid bedrock.
In the news
In the article, the term refers to the Martian surface material; the researcher assumed that perchlorate salts were distributed within this layer of loose debris to model the potential formation of brine.
NASA’s Viking 2 lander photographed frost forming on Mars in the 1970s. Nearly half a century later, a University of Arkansas researcher fed its old weather measurements into a model and found something Viking’s scientists never knew: for roughly 30 Martia
Read the full article ↗Space Daily