Hey Rpage. Re your reply 371 you seem to be sp...

Hey Rpage. Re your reply 371 you seem to be spot on. The clumping, sticky soil is nothing to do with any ice content (stand fast the permafrost ice samples of course). We need another definition of dry to describe the lack of H20 molecules in the overlying regolith. So the static explanation has got to have a high probability.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1853

The regolith must be a far more efficient insulator than ever we thought. The only way I can see the air humidity varying if there is no moisture exchange with the regolith as a resevoir is from frost deposition on the surface. We need to keep in mind that the carrying capacity of the Martian air, particularly in the polar regions, is miniscule so high humidity means only microns of frost deposition.