Table 1 Model calculated peak solar flux, maximum (max) and minimum (min) temperatures for various local slope orientations, diurnal peak temperatures and implications for stability of water-ice³⁷

Local slope angle	North aspect angle	Slope Orientation	Peak solar flux (W per m²)	Max T from model (K)	Min T from model (K)	Remarks on water-ice stability	Probable water-ice stability depth
6^°	−10^°	ChaSTE orientation	591	356	92	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
0^°	−10^°	No local slope	397.85	322	82	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
4^°	−10^°	With only the global slope	474.75	338	82	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
14^°	−10^°	Maximum slope from the slope map of LS	657.14	362	94	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
4^°	0^°	Only the global slope, directly to the Sun	475.67	336	81	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
10^°	90^°	Local slope rotated in 90°	442.25	331	82	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
6^°	180^°	Local slope of ChaSTE in Poleward direction	277.6	314	89	Unstable at surface and near surface	Nil^a
10^°	180^°	Local slope rotated in 180° (Southward/Poleward slope)	190.1	269	76	Unstable at surface but may be stable at subsurface	≥1 m
14^°	180^°	Maximum slope from the slope map of LS, poleward	112.78	236	74	Unstable at surface. Stable at subsurface within 1 m.	~5 cm
18^°	180^°	Random poleward slope	29.3	153	67	May be stable at surface. Stable at subsurface within 1 m	~2 cm

The probable stability depth of water-ice is derived based on diurnal peak temperatures following an earlier study³⁷.
^a‘Nil’ in the last column indicates that water-ice is not stable at least within the top few metres. However, if any subsurface water-ice persists, it may be stable only beyond several annual skin depths.

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