Curiosity Rover Finds "the most bizarre rock" on Mars

The image was posted by Astrobiologist Nathalie A. Cabrol who after 20 years of studying Mars says this backbone like structure is the most bizarre rock she has yet seen on the red planet.

In 20 years of studying Mars, that's the most bizarre rock I have ever seen. I cannot wait to have a microscopic image of this one
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Ancient Dinosaur remains ?

NASA were also curious about their Curiosity Rover's discovery so took a closer look with the rover's ChemCam to reveal the source of the mystery , eroded rippled mudflat sediments.


For context here's the Gigapan image created by Neville Thompson , the featured rock is just above center right in the image.
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So not a Dinosaur but cool nonetheless , to think it's been sat there for billions of years just waiting to be discovered now it gets its moment in the sun.

a reply to: gortex

That's an interesting rock.

And when seen in context we can see that it's not unique, as there are several other rocks with similar features, which makes me think of one thing: it looks like all those features in the different rocks were created at the same time and in one long features, so how did that ancient long feature got broke in several pieces?

Something irks me.
Mudflat sediment, possibly millions of years old, obviously formed when said stone was actually in a different position, and they are still there through the harsh winds and sands?

That's some good mud right there. Even if petrified, these things erode like nothing.

Also whilst the close up clearly shows these mudflats, they don't at all look like those in the picture. Which one did they look at exactly?

Not saying these spikes aren't what they say, and I didn't think dinosaur spikes or bones from the start, but something niggles me about this.

a reply to: gortex

a snake has bones like that. But Mars never had any life there, so that can't be it.

Really? 20 years study of Mars and this particular rock is the 'most bizarre'?

I'v seen stranger, the spoons were the most bizarre in my eyes. But there have been lots of others that look odd and out of place



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a reply to: Hecate666

Those niggles are contagious.

It's difficult to imagine natural erosion on Mars failing to apply to whatever is different about those projections.

The folks who work the rovers are very good at figuring out how to apply their tools to study these things. I hope we get updates on any investigations into this strangeness.

Perhaps we'll find it is not anything to be terribly impressed by... but I can't see anything about this one that will be uninteresting to me...

a reply to: Hecate666

Don't forget that wind erosion on Mars is not as strong as on Earth, as a result of the lower density of its atmosphere.

Also, if those parts of the rocks are slightly harder than the rest then it's natural that they erode slower, resulting in those shapes.

The same thing happens on Earth.

originally posted by: gortex
Ancient Dinosaur remains ?

It could be a lump of Earth, hurdled there 65 million years ago.
Very unlikely, but possible.

a reply to: ArMaP

Yeah but what you show doesn’t resemble whats shown on the op. You are showing a cliff face, the rover is showing a tiny formation. I may be wrong here because i am not an internet voodoo scientist but if you had the ability to put scale pictures side by side what would those look like?
I’m the village idiot so my reply to you is not an attack but a general inquiry about what’s presented versus what you presented. Either way I got a cold one in the fridge for you 🍺

I was going to say that first picture looks like an old car tire that's been sitting outside for a very long time. And those "prongs" could be the remains of steel belts.

a reply to: Brotherman

I don't think that's a tiny formation, it looks to be several centimetres long, and there are several rocks with that kind of feature.

Things in Mars and Earth will rarely look the same because of the lower gravity (sedimentary rocks like the ones on the OP's photo appear to be less compacted on Mars), the thinner atmosphere (less wind erosion) and lack of recent water erosion.

In the photo below the features are smaller, but at least you can have a direct size comparison.

thats cool looking, like a lizards tail.

The first thing that popped into my head was rebar... I know there is zero chance of anything metal lasting that long.. but man.. if you were building something out of a concrete type material, some sort of metal would help hold it together.

Neat Pic tho

They say “most bizarre in 20 years” like its so astounding. How much land mass has been covered in those 20 years? We have been exploring the earths oceans and rainforests for centuries and still discover new life all the time.

Just mineral deposits most likely...

a reply to: Blackfinger

Yes, but it's sideways. Meaning it was formed a loooooong rime ago. Otherwise the spikes wouldn't end in a point.
Someone said there is less wind on Mars, but there are gails and dust devils and fluctuations in temperature.
If this thing has been lying there for millions of years, those spikes would long be gone.

Again, I always go for rational explanatios first, but they still have to make sense.
Mineral deposits doesn't quite cut it for me.
Maybe there are deposits on something else that doesn't erode so quickly?

Another ChemCam image shows a closer view of the spikes , I think erosion by wind and sand is the likely answer here and the remaining spikes will suffer the same fate as those that are already missing in years to come.

mars.nasa.gov...

In the couple of decades I've been following Mars missions it is one of the coolest things I've seen ... although not as cool as the Mars rat.


Which is just another rock.

Maybe the snake ate this thing?

Probably Iron Oxides or a harder crystalline structure with a softer rock surrounding it like sandstone.

a reply to: gortex

Hmm............ Is that a Colt on Mars ?


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