Ammonite Fossil detected by the Rover on Mars? Curiosity Sol 551.

Can someone with geological knowledge explain the object's differing color from its surrounding rock? The shape in the rock is so much lighter in color than the rest of the rock while, at the same time, it only exhibits that color within the confined and defined space which hints, to our earthling brains, of something found in the oceans of our planet.

Aleister
Can someone with geological knowledge explain the object's differing color from its surrounding rock? The shape in the rock is so much lighter in color than the rest of the rock while, at the same time, it only exhibits that color within the confined and defined space which hints, to our earthling brains, of something found in the oceans of our planet.

The "anomaly" matches the iron oxide rich soil around the bluish, presumably basalt rich, rock it is "on." It probably got its color by having wind deposit dust on it.

reply to post by Aleister

All I can think of is increased amount of calcium. Sure looks like a small piece of brain choral, does it not?
I like this little bugger.

reply to post by DJW001


That's a good possible explanation. Yet the rounded edge, outline, and middle, with that different color from the rest of the rock, seem well shaped for that reasoning, at least to my nonprofessional mind (I don't have any experience with geology and the make-up of rocks, just the average schooling, it was never something I studied).

DJW001

Aleister
Can someone with geological knowledge explain the object's differing color from its surrounding rock? The shape in the rock is so much lighter in color than the rest of the rock while, at the same time, it only exhibits that color within the confined and defined space which hints, to our earthling brains, of something found in the oceans of our planet.

The "anomaly" matches the iron oxide rich soil around the bluish, presumably basalt rich, rock it is "on." It probably got its color by having wind deposit dust on it.

Viable , but unlikely , the area around the anomaly and on other rocks in the same picture would have similar colours , besides it doesn't have that sand blasted covering some other rocks have displayed, oddly these are few and far between , mostly the rocks are kind sand free,
you should visit the potential Anomalies thread , umpteen examples there

funBox

An idea: I don't use it, but can some or a few people use that new social-media thing on the first page and spread this thread around to other sites, so we get more eyes on it. I'm very glad Arken posted this thread, a fine find which has "maybe, possibly, ah, nah, but huh?" written all over it.

charlyv
reply to post by Aleister

 

All I can think of is increased amount of calcium. Sure looks like a small piece of brain choral, does it not?
I like this little bugger.

Charlyv, You got me looking at brain coral..thanks! There are so many types, so I chose 3 pics for comparison.





These are fossilized brain corals.


Des

reply to post by Arken


Nice find, checked the original as always, definitely there and not a photo manipulation like some are claiming.

S&F

reply to post by Destinyone


There seem lots of possibilities. And it's a good thread to list them on, because that thing sure looks to my brain to be a maybe. Does that constitute a one-percent chance of being something really good? I don't know, my brain recognizes it but that's the only proof we can have on this current Rover mission. All any of us are doing is pointing the things out and asking to have full analysis of ATS members when a very good possibility, like this one, is found.

I found what I thought were two very good ones, jumped the gun, and posted threads on them. I posted another one on the request of another member, and that was a fun one until it closed. All three were disproven, with all three I had the personal joy of thinking "maybe here I'm presenting another proof of former life on Mars" for a time, and now I would say that none of them were anything but rocks with no past evidence of a lifeform.

This find, since I saw it, I personally thought deserved lots of attention and its own thread. None of us suggested that to BlueShift, and he never put one up, and things move pretty fast on that thread sometimes so it was quickly in the past pages without everyone on ATS analyzing it. So then Arken independently found it, opened up a thread, and this thread is really cool, thank you Arken! Please everyone, disprove this conclusively, with my knowledge and research centered in other areas - I'm not knowledgeable in geology, the science of the formation of rock, marine biology, and the other sciences needed to give a credible analysis of this image and object - I can't do it, and this one just looks good, well within the one-percent chance. Or, in other words, at least in the ballpark if not within the foul lines.

charlyv
reply to post by Aleister

 

All I can think of is increased amount of calcium. Sure looks like a small piece of brain choral, does it not?
I like this little bugger.

You may be getting warmer with the coral theory. That's all I will say at the moment.

reply to post by Arken

I did see that before, but it is intriguing. Good examples of Ammonites are quite the collectors item, and they don't all look the same, and are certainly not as regular as the fern like examples, especially in the rock layers, where they can look a bit squished and have in fact been crushed. They have been around a long time, with all sorts of things going on in the meantime to affect the way they look.

They are most often found in the layers in bunches though, still Mars is a lot different now than it may have been at one time, much of that rock on the surface is pretty dry and brittle looking. Maybe you could say at a stage that Earth has yet to evolve/devolve to.

does look a little outa place with the different coloring of the rock behind it.
i do like to check out your threads even tho 4/5's of the time i just see rocks.
i really do want to see the aliens.
the other 1/5 i think you've found something interesting.

bah,can't be a fossil. if it was nasa would have ground it out like the one from a few years ago.

oops forgot they a ray gun this time. ZAPPED it away

reply to post by spacemanjupiter
Hey SMJ, I have to agree. I always look forward to a New Arken Thread. Maybe we do see a lot of rocks along the way, but I'm sure if anyone's gonna have a find here on ATS from The Nasa/JPL Pix. It will be Arken! These are some of the most fun and interesting threads on ATS and it always brightens my day when Arken comes out with a new one. Keep em coming Arken, there's lots of us with ya!
Namaste Arjunada

Top right corner looks like a happy ninja turtle face lol and the little animal dog shape just above center of the picture.
(Original full size image I'm referring to)

Sorry to intrude, great find. Love these mars pictures.

Some good explanation on Reddit: www.reddit.com...

That rock is a breccia. See the large, angular cobbles to the right? Those rocks were deposited by a very energetic event, like an impact or volcanic event. That tumbled them around and knocked them against each other, breaking them down, chipping them and breaking bits off. The "spiral" is an artifact of a jagged fracture plane and an oblique light source.

The "ammonite" is still just a broken rock lit from an enticing angle. This is a good example of a pseudofossil.

wildespace
Some good explanation on Reddit: www.reddit.com...

That rock is a breccia. See the large, angular cobbles to the right? Those rocks were deposited by a very energetic event, like an impact or volcanic event. That tumbled them around and knocked them against each other, breaking them down, chipping them and breaking bits off. The "spiral" is an artifact of a jagged fracture plane and an oblique light source.

The "ammonite" is still just a broken rock lit from an enticing angle. This is a good example of a pseudofossil.

The rock itself may be a breccia, but looking at photos at your Wikipedia source that doesn't explain the shell-thing.

The Reddit page you linked to has many people saying that the object itself seems fossil-like, here's one good quote from someone named The Cheesewiz :

I think the "spiral" that we see is more than just oblique lighting of fractures. I've done work with lighting fossils and what you see from varying light sources is usually a true expression of the topography of the rock/fossil.

The OP about it on Reddit is also from February 27, people here and there were on this the same day. Why doesn't reddit have time stamps for the actual time of posting? Everyone finds things independently but it's nice to be first just because the human brain has a thing about that, probably something to do with the hardwiring of both survival and mating.

Nice find arken. I think if anyone is going to find anything on mars then it is going to be you.

fatpastyhead
Nice find arken. I think if anyone is going to find anything on mars then it is going to be you.

Or someone else, it looks like he was far from th e first to spot this one.

I always look forward to your postings, and this one does not disappoint.
Have you thought about a numbering system for all your anomalies? E.g anomaly AK110_001 (AK for Arken, 110 from the picture number and 001 for a sequence number). This way if you strike lucky, then everyone will use your anomaly reference - writing you in the history books! Best of luck.

templar knight
I always look forward to your postings, and this one does not disappoint.
Have you thought about a numbering system for all your anomalies? E.g anomaly AK110_001 (AK for Arken, 110 from the picture number and 001 for a sequence number). This way if you strike lucky, then everyone will use your anomaly reference - writing you in the history books! Best of luck.

History Books... Glory....
Never thought to this...
Thanks for your advice.
Maybe in future