Rovers on Mars

Quote:

It's an interesting idea... still it looks like the pebbles are embedded in the matrix, but not fused to it. I would think that if they were projected into a molten surface they would be fused more completely.

I mean, beads were hot, not the matrix surface.

Here are more about the spherules (or tiny beads):

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/opportunity_update_040209.html

0 Replies

farmerman wrote:

if you read my earlier posts maybe I didnt do a good job with all the geobabble.

Sorry Farmerman, I'm not a geologist, so much of your earlier post went over my head.

farmerman wrote:

Id still like some conjecture as to why those little spheres are all about the same size. I mean they look like they dont vary geometrically or logarithmically, but arithmetically. That is unearthlike

I think the spheroids *are* different sizes. The very first microscopic image shows one sphere in the corner, but another along the edge of the frame which is one third the size of the large one (you need to make sure you're looking at the full sized image and not the cropped one).

They seem to have sizes ranging around that of a pearl, though there does seem to be a size which is most common. I believe the sizes of these things (assuming they are tektites) are determined by material and atmosphere and gravity. Mars might tend to produce this size marble given the fluidity of the material as well as the gravitational field.

0 Replies

satt_focusable wrote:

Here are more about the spherules (or tiny beads):

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/opportunity_update_040209.html

Thanks for the link Satt Smile

0 Replies

My view on the spherules is close to the second of the three hypotheses in the link.

Quote:

There are three leading hypotheses:
The spherules might have formed when ash from a volcanic eruption was suspended in the air, stuck together, and fell from the sky. That idea is rapidly falling from favor, Squyres said, because it would tend to produce spherules made of the same material as the rock's main matrix.
They might have formed when molten rock -- either from a volcano or a meteor impact -- froze in mid-air into glass beads.
Most interesting, they might be "concretions," which form when a fluid, possibly water, carrying dissolved minerals flows through a rock and "precipitates" a grain that typically grows into a sphere.

The third is aesthetically fascinating.

0 Replies

Hmmm didnt think about concretions. These usually form in large groups due to more permeable rock where water can perc,

I see one of the spheres in the pics and it appeared broken in hal f with no apparent evidence of concentric layers like in one of those redhot candies.

When I said that they appear in the same size, I meant that they arent showing a vast difference in their sizes. I dont see any really big ones or mid sizers , they all appear (no exact scale inferred) from 1 mm up to a cm in size(based on my screen) They need a reticle or a scale thingy to show up in each microphoto.

0 Replies

Archaeology doesn't have a lot to contribute to the space program but it may here. In the 18th century round shot for muskets was mass produced by pouring melted lead from a high platform (shot tower) into a pool of water. Those sphericals look to me like lead bullets produced by that method. I would suggest they were produced when a molten mineral substance (probably glass) fell into standing liquid (water?).

0 Replies

thats a good model acquiunk. How was the molten lead introduced so that the sizes were fairly uniform. These are not completely uniform but they seem to have a range of not bigger or smaller than... Any ideas?

The concretion hypothesis could account more for the size uniformity but wed have to see a cross section and be able to see concentric accretion rings in the spheres.

0 Replies

All in all, I'm not sure I could have dreamed up a more intriguing and unusual geological formation to explore. Of all the things we might have expected, who would have thought of deserts of minute Spheroids and wind worn sediment layers embedded with, and even "dripping" with these pearls of unknown origin.

I don't think I will ever forget these images.

For the moment, all this remains a sweet mystery. But in the months to come, science will reach a concensus, and for years to follow all will *know* how this section of Mars was built. The theories may change over time, but for this particular piece of Mars, we will never again feel the range of possibilities which currently exist.

I haven't felt like this since we touched the Moon a mere handful of years ago.

0 Replies

Here's an APOD intro do the Spheroids: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040210.html

And here's one of the APOD links detailing Tektites found on the moon: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030112.html

0 Replies

Those beads are said to be embedded in the rock but I cannot still get rid of a sticking image of them. They seem to be scattered on the ground around the outcropping rock fairly uniformly. The outcrop cannot have been eroded in such a degree for beads to be separated from it as seen in the photo.

0 Replies

why not?
remember this outcrop is quite small, on earth we have placer gold deposits in streams where the original rock that held the "nuggets" was maybe a thousand feet thick layer or more.
In the Chatanooga shales the erosion has been calculated to have removed more than 10000 feet of hard rock, and where did it go/

Look at Zion nat park, or other formations , buttes etc.

Those little spherules show subtle patterns of how they were blown around and arranged. in the color enhanced photo, you can see that the spheres on the right of the outcrop are arranged in linear row-like concentration s that seem to be aligned in bunches at right angles to the main wind direction..

0 Replies

Farmerman, partly size was controlled by the depth of the molten lead pouring over the lip of the crucible, partly they just sorted through and found the one's that fit.

0 Replies

"why not" ..

It is a sense of balance. If the outcrop had been extremely larger than seen now, the original outcrop seemed very singular relative to the ground.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040209a/Snout_Context-B016R1_br.jpg

0 Replies

satt_focusable wrote:

It is a sense of balance. If the outcrop had been extremely larger than seen now, the original outcrop seemed very singular relative to the ground.

Remember that we are looking at the rim of a crater wall (this ridge near the rover). The crater is in a vast plane (Re: the images you provided before of the parachute and heat shield). It seems likely that the rocks we see in the crater wall are actually the uprooted floor of this entire plane.

Even more interesting forms might be found on the shores of the Meridiani plane. I wonder if the rover can make it that far?

0 Replies

Reference material no Ooids: http://www.sculptureconservation.com/oolites.html

A quote from the article: "At certain times during earth's prehistory, oxygen has been less plentiful in parts of the ocean than it is today, and ooids consisting of iron-rich minerals such as hematite and chamosite sometimes formed at such times and places"

0 Replies

http://ralphaeschliman.com/mars/opls.jpg

0 Replies

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/treiman/greatdesert/workshop/marsmaps1/marsmaps1_imgs/mola_color_2.jpg

0 Replies

Determining the age of surfaces on Mars:
http://www.msss.com/http/ps/age2.html

0 Replies

http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040211a/opp_layered_sol17-B017R1_br.jpg

A quote from the Rover Home Page:

[Scientists are excited to see new details of layered rocks in Opportunity Ledge. In previous panoramic camera images, geologists saw that some rocks in the outcrop had thin layers, and images sent to Earth on sol 17 (Feb. 10, 2004) now show that the thin layers are not always parallel to each other like lines on notebook paper. Instead, if you look closely at this image from an angle, you will notice that the lines converge and diverge at low angles. These unparallel lines give unparalleled clues that some "moving current" such as volcanic flow, wind, or water formed these rocks. These layers with converging and diverging lines are a significant discovery for scientists who are on route to rigorously test the water hypothesis. The main task for both rovers in coming weeks and months is to explore the areas around their landing sites for evidence in rocks and soils about whether those areas ever had environments that were watery and possibly suitable for sustaining life.

This is a cropped image taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera on sol 16 (Feb. 9, 2004). JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. ]

0 Replies

NASA's silence (almost silence) in the latter half of this week about what the rovers found is very impressive. Do NASA scientists have little data to refer to, or do they have too much data to disclose?

0 Replies

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know