Interesting Mars Rocks with Notable Features

There are so many dendritic minerals on Earth, it is hard to believe that Mars is not loaded with them also.
They erode out of solid rock and also form on their surfaces as well, depending upon the elements and the conditions.

Here are some magnesium dioxide and copper dendritics on Earth...



Manganese can produce dendritics that look like life.



Not saying that Mars does not have some very strange rocks, but geologic processes on Earth show us some pretty strange rocks as well.



I will add that the most amazing and controversial Mars geo/bio anomaly for me, is the crab monster. All should know of it, but there are so many copies online, and well analyzed, that you should check it out if you have never seen it.

Oh heck, here it is.
Unenhanced really, so it has character.



The enhanced versions will freak you out.

originally posted by: charlyv
There are so many dendritic minerals on Earth, it is hard to believe that Mars is not loaded with them also.

There are a few, but I think they need a fairly decent amount of water to make them happen. Otherwise, all you get are little mud dendrites, like this one.

I don't recall and didn't record the Sol date this one came from.

I agree, but they have a lot of evidence that Gale Crater had water in it. Undisturbed for millions of years, we can only wonder how they have morphed and eroded. Possibly just another indicator of the once wet Mars.

There is a picture from nasa jpl that clearly shows significant features:

1) A statue of 2 pharaohs (right of center,then further right)
2) A stone marked with a sideways '8' (on left)
3) Another stone marked with a '4' (in center)
4) Another stone marked with an upside down '3' (on right edge)

nasa.gov/images/content/207023main_vincent-20071220.jpg:

www.nasa.gov...

a reply to: Blue Shift

originally posted by: ThatDidHappen
There is a picture from nasa jpl that clearly shows significant features:
www.nasa.gov...

I'm not one for statutes, but there are some interesting angular features there. I thought this thing was worthy of note.

I think my poor rover might be kaput. No new images since Sol 2172.
And I believe that the warranty has expired.

I guess they got the brain working again. Here's an interesting pattern (I think) right off the bat:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

I don't usually look for artifacts, but this one caught my eye. Looks like a little block and tackle:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Some interesting stuff in this area. With odd bits of junk that are very differently colored than most of the other rocks. Lots of yellows, purples and greens. Dark browns. Might be worth a look if you're interested in this sort of nonsense.

Here's a horned snake. You can see the shadows of the horns.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Facehugger:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Something very yellow:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Happy frog in 3-D (cross-eye):

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

a reply to: Blue Shift

That must be a fossil, that picture is so clear it just looks so much like an Ammonite, not sure on the tail bit, but that just shouts Ammonite at me. I'm sorry but it just HAS to be one. And looks like a lot of others that have been seen on Curiositys journey, but that one is as clear as its going to ever be on a photo.

Fossil Ammonite?

originally posted by: Moohide
a reply to: Blue Shift
That must be a fossil, that picture is so clear it just looks so much like an Ammonite, not sure on the tail bit, but that just shouts Ammonite at me. I'm sorry but it just HAS to be one.

If you say so. I'm just looking for life-like patterns and shapes. The way the raw images come up, they're not making it easy to find these things. Hell, they post the Handheld Camera stuff upside down!

Little blue bottle cap. Got slightly chopped by that bad vertical line in the camera.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Something that looks kind of like a broken open seed pod.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Germinating seed?

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Segmented something or another. Apparently not a JPG artifact.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Same little doo-dad as above, flipped and lightened a little. I think the knobs are interesting.

Must be a lot of worms in this area. This one looks like it has a little knob on the end, too.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Shapes:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Maybe the knobs go in here:

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Something that looks like it might have been alive at some point a long time ago. Hard to tell, though. Funny little "pin" shape in the right upper part of it.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

I wrote a creepypasta partly based on this subject matter last year. Although, mainly about the idea of how truly strange it would be to go to an alien planet, not trivialized like most sci-fi horror.

a reply to: Blue Shift

I think because the photo of the last one you posted was taken in the shade, makes it look poor quality (to me). I would of liked to have seen a sunlit photo of the same area because those markings make it look like something has been turning the soil over. Done by the rover maybe?

a reply to: charlyv

Manganese can produce dendritics that look like life.

I was just thumbing through this thread, hadn't visited in a while.

When I was a kid I found something exactly like that in some rocks in my yard. Cool I found a fossil!
Except, when I started thinking about it, I couldn't figure out how there could be a fossil (of a fern) in basalt, in Hawaii.

Thanks for the explanation for that mystery which I had forgotten.