The coming of spring is different on Mars than it is on Earth. Mars has a two-tier polar cap configuration, for one thing. The planet has substantially permanent ice caps at both poles made of water ice. Unlike Earth, however, Mars also has seasonal caps. Carbon dioxide freezes through the winter, building upon the permanent caps. Those seasonal caps, of course, are not made of water ice. Instead, they are made of what we know as dry ice.
According to images taken from orbit, spring is breaking on Mars. With the warmer temperatures, the carbon dioxide changes directly back to gas. When that happens beneath the surface, the gas builds pressure and eventually explodes through the layer of ice on top.
Imagine being an early explorer of Mars, sitting in your pressurized scout vehicle, watching such explosions-- a Martian rite of spring.
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