More Echoes of the Martian Past
As the Mars Exploration Rovers continue their respective journeys - now beyond eleven times that of their original mission design - the findings keep accumulating. In reviewing the latest MER press release, I was totally captivated by this layered section of Erebus returned by Opportunity:
Image Credit: NASA /JPL / Cornell (click to enlarge)
The stack of fine layers exposed at a ledge called “Payson” on the western edge of “Erebus Crater” in Mars’ Meridiani Planum shows a diverse range of primary and secondary sedimentary textures formed billions of years ago. These structures likely result from an interplay between windblown and water-involved processes.
The panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired the exposures for this image on Spirit’s 749th Martian day (Feb. 10, 2006). This view is an approximately true-color rendering mathematically generated from separate images taken through all of the left Pancam’s 432-nanometer to 753-nanometer filters.
Oh what I wouldn’t give to peer back in time and witness the sequences of events responsible for this feature, and moreso, just how large a role water played in its formation. There is, of course, rather compelling evidence that Meridiani Planum and other areas of Mars were once harbored soggy conditions, despite the rather barren vistas to which we’ve become accustomed. To what extent will require further study.
I just think it’s beautiful… somewhat reminiscent of Arizona.
4 Responses to “More Echoes of the Martian Past”
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in the past period on the mars, there are the clear indication are looking in this photo, that the water was the part of mars ever, because the rocks are looking in the photos are the indicators of the water existence on the mars, not in the earlier period but in the very past there was an ample water on mars, today may be the possibility of water in the few parts on the mars but may be under the folds of the surface or in the upper core but below the surface. the soil is looking red and also indicating that mars is rich of minerals, because this is a rare sort of soil what we are looking in this photo, it indicates that some copper+iron+other metals in the ore are may be in existence ?
sunil
the process of soil erosion is the continuous process happening on the mars, means ” winds are there”, if winds are there means the tycoons are there on mars. some 200 years ago, there was a person who was working under the kind of gwalior, India, who was wrote in his personal notings, that the mars has some green parts over it, and copper is a part of mars, and also said that a rare ice is there on the mars ( may be in the coolest part of the mars).
In my opinion that mars in formation may be like an earth, its crust and the inner parts are like earth, the surface is soft, since there was a full of water in the bigger parts of mars, the deep portions are just giving the gurantee that there are some valleys on the mars, and may be that valleys are nothing but the part of the past sea, means they were the depths of the sea of that times. (this is the probability). may be or may be not.
sunil
please read ” king of gwalior” in the above lines, sorry for the mistake.
Sorry for the delay, Sunil, I thought I’d already replied here.
I’m really not sure offhand what the photo implies about the elemental or mineral composition. Planetary scientist I’m most definitely not, nor am I really familiar with this particular region of Mars.
What is familiar: strong evidence for sedimentary layering via fluids, and plenty of erosion. I just think it’s neat that we can see such similar processes at work on other planets to those we encounter here.