Mars BlueBerry Brine Bubble-ite's

So we have all been looking at the mars pictures, and quite honestly they have been awsome to look at. I mean actual images from another planet. These are the times to enjoy.

Anyway, I have been intregued by the Mars Sphere's. The little round rock appearing things all over the planet apparently.







So I have been thinking about this, and already having been exposed to these thoughts...


Rover located in Lakebed?
Mud in soil?
No Cloud Cover
and Minimal Atmosphere,
allowing for Solar Exposure from the Sun,
possibly allowing the solar wind to assist in 'blowing off' the atmosphere,
nominal temperature swings between freezing and above,

and more I am sure.


It has been brought up in other threads about the rocks and soil, and I myself made observations of the typical rock texture as well as the soil.


But I wish to tie a few things together, if you will,..


So the rover is in a drying basin, and has shown us mud. I have looked at dried ponds before and noticed the texture of the resultant soil left over. Notice the little bubble holes that form sometimes, as the mud dries up and contracts slowly.

Looking at those sphere's something else occurred to me.

What if, since it has been hypothisized that a brine liquid could exist in a drying lake bed, that becouse of a low atmospheric pressure, and possible unusual properties of a unique soil content, ....

that the sphere's are actually a thick content bubble of soil dust, salts, and moisture, bubbling up in the solar sunlight on a drying muddy lakebed, like Tar in Pavement on a Hot Summer Day, and freezing over in the night, in a perpetual cycle.

I imagine that this could mean the formation of 'Bubble-ite's' as the eventual loss of moisture could allow for the formation of a 'hardened pellet', of left-over salts and minerals.




This would also help to explain the consistant appearing 'crumbling' of larger rocks to a more consistant 'gravel', as a constant condensation in daylight seeping in to rock crevices, and then freezing at night, doing the 'slow-pulverize'.


*edit - danged spelling*


[Edited on 5-3-2004 by smirkley]

Don't see how this theory could be possible in any way. These little berries have formed everywhere, not just on the ground. They're poking out of crevaces in rocks, on the surfaces of the rocks, etc. and the rover has ground a few of them right in half. There's no air pocket inside. They're solid.

Experiments done with liquids under conditions of no gravity, the liquid drops were spheres, the same for mold, it grew in a spherical shape. Now a thicker substance that hardens like rock were to form droplets in a much less gravity environment than earth, wouldn�t the little droplets look like these Martin balls?

Originally posted by FieryIce1
...under conditions of no gravity, the liquid drops were spheres, the same for mold, it grew in a spherical shape. Now a thicker substance that hardens like rock were to form droplets in a much less gravity environment than earth, wouldn�t the little droplets look like these Martin balls?

Exactly what I was imagining.

'Solid Core' Stalagmite's and Stalactite's are formed similarly in a cave over millenia of water depositing calcium or other paricles.

I dont think there is enough atmosphere on mars to support a humidity level enough to have condensation, but I can imagine a moist brine in the soil, that could unfreeze in daylight and bubble up to the surface, and it probubly would form a sphere if it did. The moisture would then freeze at night or evaporate off the surface, perpetually making a 'Martian Pearl', if you will, or a round low gravity low atmosphere stalagmite/stalactite.


And I imagine water trapped in varying degrees in all surface material, including rocks.

Appearing to have a minimal sized base attached to the ground, a sturdy windstorm possibly could snap these off, and blow them around. (I am still waiting to see one of those fabled Mars windstorms on camera)



[Edited on 8-3-2004 by smirkley]

For a liquid to move to the surface wouldn't that need a tide or some force to attract the substance to the surface. What action is behind this bubbling activity you mention or what action are you surmising?
Without a moon to cause tide shift......oh that is another issue.