| Analysis of the satellite data indicates that Mars appears to lack 
    active plate tectonics(carencia de actividad tectónica de placas) 
    at present(en la actualidad); there is no evidence of 
    recent lateral motion of the surface(corrimiento de tierras). 
    With no plate motion, hot spots(puntos calientes, activos) 
    under the crust(corteza) stay in a fixed position relative 
    to the surface; this, along with(junto con) the lower 
    surface gravity, may be the explanation for the giant volcanoes. However, 
    there is no evidence of current volcanic activity. There is evidence of 
    erosion caused by floods(inundaciones) and small river 
    systems. The possible identification of rounded pebbles(guijarro) 
    and cobbles(adoquines)  on the ground, and sockets(cuencas)  
    and pebbles in some rocks, suggests conglomerates that formed in running 
    water(agua corriente)  during a warmer past some 
    2-4 billion years ago, when liquid water was stable and there was water on 
    the surface, possibly even large lakes(glagos)  or 
    oceans. There is also evidence of flooding that occurred less that several 
    million years ago, most likely(más que probablemente)  
    as the result of the release(liberación) of water from 
    aquifers(acuíferos) deep underground(en las 
    profundidades del subsuelo). 
 Seasonal Changes(cambios estacionales)
 Because the axis of rotation is tilted(inclinado) about 
    25° to the plane of revolution, Mars experiences seasons somewhat(algo) 
    similar to those of the earth. One of the most apparent seasonal changes is 
    the growing or shrinking(encogimiento, reducción) of white 
    areas near the poles known as polar caps(gorras, tapones, fundas). 
    These polar caps may be composed of ordinary ice or of dry ice (frozen 
    carbon dioxide) and are thought to be(se piensa que son) 
    only a few inches thick. During the Martian summer the polar cap in that 
    hemisphere shrinks and the dark regions grow darker; in winter the polar cap 
    grows again and the dark regions become paler(más pálidos).
 
 Satellites of Mars
 Mars has two natural satellites, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. The 
    innermost(el más interior)  of these, Phobos, is 
    about 7 mi (11 km) in diameter and orbits the planet with a period far less 
    than Mars's period of rotation (7 hr 39 min), causing it to rise(levantarse, 
    surgir, aparecer) in the west and set in the east. The outer 
    satellite, Deimos, is about 4 mi (6 km) in diameter.
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