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Old 15-February-2005, 07:53 PM
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Default Spirit finds signs of water
Spirit Finds New Rock Affected by Water

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Scientists working with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit believe it's discovered another rock that was affected by liquid water in the past. Dubbed "Peace", the rock contains more sulfate salt than any other rock Spirit has examined so far. Normally this sulfur is at the surface of the rock, but Peace has this material deep inside too. The scientists have two theories for how these sulfates formed, but both involve large amounts of liquid water.
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Old 15-February-2005, 08:46 PM
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Rover's been naughty!

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Old 15-February-2005, 08:59 PM
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ROFL Candy
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:02 PM
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Completely off topic:
very original moon dog you have there...

Somebody ran out of inspiration with that image of yours?

Completely on topic:

Isn't that rock rather high above the surrounding plane? How would large amounts of liquid water be there? A small uphill pond or something like that, or would rain suffice?
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:11 PM
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"This is probably the most interesting and important rock Spirit has examined," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the rovers. The rock, dubbed "Peace," is an exposure of bedrock in the Columbia Hills. The rock is in the Gusev Crater, where Spirit landed 13 months ago. "This may be what the bones of this mountain are really made of; it gives us even more compelling evidence for water playing a major role for altering the rocks here,” Squyres added.
No offense to the hot, Dr. Squyres, but doesn't he already answer his own question?

Oh goodness, I know I will have to explain what I mean shortly. 8-[
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:13 PM
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Isn't that rock rather high above the surrounding plane? How would large amounts of liquid water be there? A small uphill pond or something like that, or would rain suffice?
I think we're talking about water a long, long time ago, sufficiently so that the terrain has had a chance to change significantly.
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:17 PM
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Thanks for the info.
The terrain change must have taken place long ago as well then, I thought Mars doesn't have much geological activity today.
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Nicolas
Thanks for the info.
The terrain change must have taken place long ago as well then, I thought Mars doesn't have much geological activity today.
There's always big space rocks.
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:27 PM
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Some background on Gusev's geological history
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Old 15-February-2005, 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by ToSeek
How do you know it’s an impact crater and not from 'normal unrest' from volcanic activity? Sorry, I don't know the proper verbiage, yet.

Wouldn't the reason for the crater looking terrain help answer the question? Am I making sense? 8-[
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Old 15-February-2005, 10:12 PM
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Originally Posted by ToSeek
How do you know it’s an impact crater and not from 'normal unrest' from volcanic activity? Sorry, I don't know the proper verbiage, yet.

Wouldn't the reason for the crater looking terrain help answer the question? Am I making sense? 8-[
It's 150 km across - don't think it could be anything but an impact crater.
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Old 15-February-2005, 10:19 PM
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That being said. 8-[

Quote:
"It looks as if you took volcanic rocks that were ground into little grains, and then formed a layered rock with them cemented together by a substantial quantity of magnesium-sulfate salt," Squyres said. "Where did the salt come from? We have two working hypotheses we want to check by examining more rocks.

It could come from liquid water with magnesium sulfate salt dissolved in it, percolating through the rock, then evaporating and leaving the salt behind.

Or it could come from weathering by dilute sulfuric acid reacting with magnesium-rich minerals that were already in the rock. Either case involves water," he said.
:-k
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Old 16-February-2005, 03:10 AM
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Sounds like they think it's a loosely compacted sedimentary rock (like a sandstone grit but softer) composed of debris from impacts or volcanic origin. Like most sandstones it would be fairly porous and water can percolate through it. If the source of that water contains salt and the water is evaporating from the surface you will get sulfate deposits building up in the rock pores.
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Old 16-February-2005, 07:02 PM
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Default Eh? Bones?
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"This is probably the most interesting and important rock Spirit has examined," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the rovers. The rock, dubbed "Peace," is an exposure of bedrock in the Columbia Hills. The rock is in the Gusev Crater, where Spirit landed 13 months ago. "This may be what the bones of this mountain are really made of; it gives us even more compelling evidence for water playing a major role for altering the rocks here,” Squyres added.
Be careful of your words Steve! We don't want any misunderstanding here!



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