The Kieffer model, the researchers concluded, was an accurate representation of the processes that produce, not just the spiders, but other seasonal features that appear on the surface of Mars. In future research, the team hopes to fine-tune and adapt their experiments to understand these features and their formation in greater detail.

Experts from the US space agency have, for the first time, managed to recreate the spider-like shapes that can be found on the red planet.

Mars has something on its surface that cannot be found anywhere else in the solar system. Unusual dark structures, which resemble spiders in appearance, are known as araneiforms. They appear in the southern polar region of the planet during spring.