Nasa baffled by soil properties on mars in latest photo.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
A little image sharpening... and...

WHAT IS THAT?

It looks like ... uh ... plant life?

I dunno, looks weird whatever it is. Maybe we'll learn with the new images.

Gazrok, would that top layer you refer to keep its cohesion when disturbed, or does it break up? (just curious)

Interesting little thing here. It "looks" like some upright small object as it looks to be casting a shadow on the ground... and in it's opening (maw?)... with two short tendrils coming out of both top and bottom "halves"... and some darker coloration near the top of both "halves". I could be a tear of fabric from the balloons... but I doubt that's the case... I'm sure they're strong enough to not tear when deflated, after surviving the drop. [Edited on 6-1-2004 by SkepticOverlord]

we don't know maybe a completly new form of life adepted for this kind of enverniment.

by the way if still searching for this movie file its on
www.reuters.com...

under video's left top like a tv with image file will be there click on it.

This may indeed be proof of moisture content in the soils. Moisture content doesn't mean standing water but merely a % of the void between soil particles filled by water. This can also be frozen water as is present in the periglacial permafrost we see surrounding glaciers on earth.

On earth and indeed in every country, state, province, county..ect.. soil properties vary and differ greatly. To me, just looking at the photo, I would classify it as a silty-clay or silty sand because it appears that a great deal of the particles would pass a #200 seive. The only way to really be sure is to run it throught the standard classification tests ie..grain size, spec gravity, atterburg limits(plasticity index) and such. I don't do that anymore as of about a month ago but I would come out of retirement to get my hands on that sample! As for the minerological breakdown, its anyone's guess until its put to exray defraction and looked at at the sub-atomic level.

Gazrok, would that top layer you refer to keep its cohesion when disturbed, or does it break up? (just curious)

It would "appear" to keep cohesion, because of the gravel base, but lots of "looser" sand would be shaken off.

I am intrigued by the "tube", but I think we may be looking a little too closely at it, and seeing something that isn't there.....

Im no expert..

But:

Some of the 'stones' show have curved 'edges' just like stones that have been in 'running water'..

Forgive me....I can't resist

Exdog, I love that cartoon!



I think the tube is the result of this piece of soil being torn and pulled forward.

This picture reminds me of tar at the beach, it really does.


[Edited on 6-1-2004 by Zzub]

exdog,

that is likely the truth!

I think I found something else





Looks like a Mushroom to me.

[Edited on 6-1-2004 by BlackJackal]

some kind of clay like composits maybe? I life near the dutch polders in Groningen. And between lauwersoog and the isles in the nordsea we got see at night and some dryer regions if water is pulled in to the north see. people can walk from mainland to the isle across clay this will do the same if you pul something over it if I remember correctly been a while when I was by sea side. but it reminds me of it. same kind of properties.




oh jeah look at this... above.

[Edited on 6-1-2004 by MarkLuitzen]

[Edited on 6-1-2004 by MarkLuitzen]

I reckon that its not all of the rock or whatever it is, it seems to me that it is kinda dugged into the soil, maybe its a lever that opens a hatch to a martian colony!

see the holes u say maybe caused by water erosion? well my friend u never know.......they are probably the finger holes for the martians to grip the 'lever' with

Earlier I had mentioned that it appeared that the ground was made of more metal powder then metal oxide.

Looking at that picture highlighted it looks like magnetic powder clumping from the retraction of the airbag.

Iron tends to magnetize well when in powder form and sitting stil for a long period of time.

I still don't think there is enough data to come to any firm conclusions, but given just the picture, i would guesstimate magnetic iron powder being in a higher than predicted concentration in the soil.

Originally posted by Conqueror
I reckon that its not all of the rock or whatever it is, it seems to me that it is kinda dugged into the soil, maybe its a lever that opens a hatch to a martian colony!

see the holes u say maybe caused by water erosion? well my friend u never know.......they are probably the finger holes for the martians to grip the 'lever' with

WOW! What a great place to land the rover!

Originally posted by Zzub


Do you mean this rock?

I wish I knew more about rocks. My geology is practically zero. It looks to me like uneven erosion, but by what, I have no idea, air or water? I'm guessing air/dust.

That panorama contains so much, I've been looking at it for hours.

Wind erosion would give it a more 'streaked' sort of look... to clarify kindalike if you got sandpaper and rubbed it on a rock... holes like this wouldnt form from wind erosion... water erosion however would definately erode rock in this manner... its just a matter of how long ago this erosion occured

It looks gooey and fudgey like it could be the excrement of the large creatures whose pics were posted here recently.

I know it's been said before about the Martian atmosphere being artificially tinted red for some reason by NASA, but I opened the first Mars pic up in good 'ol Photoshop and hit it with Auto Color, lo and behold, it took away the reddish hue and it looks like a nice clear blue sky after all. Don't know if this proves anything other than my photomanipulation madness, but here it is anyway.


Yes...I'm wearing my

proof boxer shorts.

Bah! Photoshop is just an earth program. It doesn't apply to Mars! That's why it made Mars look alot more like Earth.

[Edited on 1-6-2004 by Satyr]

I found a place where NASA cut out a part and pasted in part of the image WRONG with a huge line that makes one part of the image veer to the left of the rest, what the hell?

photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...


See that big rock in center-left side? Underneat it I can see a line going left-to-right and anomalies because of it... some of the rocks are shifted on their top halves.