Inre: Mars--does this look like sedimentary rock to you?

[lebkuchen]

It does to me. Now, if we could just detect some methane...



This is a microscopic photograph of a Mars rock taken by NASA (news - web sites)'s Opportunity rover that has triggered excitement among scientists. This image, posted on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars rovers Web site, shows a highly detailed surface on a rock, dubbed 'El Capitan,' that has been undergoing examination by the robot geologist. Scientists weren't ready to say where the observations are leading their speculation, a mission official said Monday. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040224/480/la10602240342&e=14

[Goldberg]

1. It looks like a chunk of limestone.

Hard to tell in that photo.

[lebkuchen]

4. It doesn't look like a meteorite

It looks like sedimentary layers. Opportunity isn't in a "lake" bed, is it? I thought that was where Spirit had landed.

[GainesT1958]

2. Hey--wonder what Martian...

Did the bas-relief sculpture of George Washington--complete with over-sized buttons on his coat!? :D

What dramatic timing, coming the week of his birthday and all..:eyes:

B-)

[Maine-i-acs]

3. I wouldn't call it sedimentary.

But any further speculation would be igneous of me. I'm no geologist but I'd like to see layers on my sedimentary rock.

[lebkuchen]

6. You don't see parallel lines on that rock?

That's why I thought it wasn't a meteorite. Also, it's not pock-marked with little craters.

[Superfly]

7. Those lines can be anything

including striations due to the movement of other rocks over the rock in the picture, foliation due to metamorphic processes, or sedimentary layering. Just looking at the picture (and a bad one it is) tells you very little.

[lebkuchen]

16. Sedimentary or metamorphic, either

Isn't metamorphic rock sedimentary rock that has morphed due to pressure and climate?

[Superfly]

17. Metamorphic rock can be

igneous, sedimentary, or even metamorphic rock that metamorphizes.

Take a look at the "Rock Cycle"

[Goldberg]

18. Ah yes, the rock cycle.

I learned about that in my physical geology class...three years ago.

[commander bunnypants]

5. sorry they look like acorns to me

DDQM

[On the Road]

8. I Don't See the Layers on That Sample

but this one definitely looks flaked:

[lebkuchen]

12. absolutely.

I hadn't seen that one. Thanks for posting it.

[Superfly]

13. How about this one...sorry for the size

[lebkuchen]

14. It looks like an infrared photo of a cowpie

Where did you get it?

[Superfly]

15. Actually, I posted it to illustrate a point...

that trying to determine the provenance of a rock on a different planet from a picture is futile at best. It's a picture of a rusted piece of iron.

[lebkuchen]

19. I guess that's why NASA isn't talking, eh?

They've got all the data, and we're stuck with these dumb rocks. It's not fair.

[Superfly]

21. Yeah, I'm waiting on pins and needles, myself

for the determination of the origin of these rocks. They do have a whole suite of methods they can use to determine that:

- Bulk chemistry determinations
- X-ray spec
- Isotope spec
- Physical examinations

They already know what this rock is, they are probably just being careful.

[lebkuchen]

20. I guess that's why NASA isn't talking, eh?

They've got all the data, and we're stuck with these dumb rocks. It's not fair.

[On the Road]

22. So The Flaky Rock Could Simply be Rust

or some other oxidized material?

[Superfly]

23. It could be a whole host of things....

including rust.

[tinnyguy1777]

24. "Martian Iron"

Another example of just how manipulative those NASA pictures can be. Who really knows what they are showing us, as purported pictures from Mars???? Anything goes, to justify the expense of keeping NASA afloat,IMHO.

[underpants]

9. How about this one? (another photo)

[baldguy]

10. That's where the methane comes from.

[lebkuchen]

11. ...from a remote tribe of Papua New Guinea headhunters

We're only just beginning to deconstruct their language.