Can someone explain whether this is natural?

Pretty sure that's the "morse code" part of the wheel track. If you look closely at the OP image, you can see the wheel in the very lower right, so the rover likely moved forward, then backward, leaving that lone mark. Those marks can appear to be isolated, as in:

www.allvoices.com...

reply to post by Shino


That is interesting, the Pi sign....

It can happen in natural, i mean anything can, but its a very low chance to be exactly like that.....


Looking for more information and input..

reply to post by Shino


Interesting picture
I don't know what it is but it looks to clean to be the wheel tracks , dependant on how high up we are its probably to large as well ..... Curious

So its not an aerial view its on the ground ...Doh

Originally posted by Zarniwoop
I'm sticking with "Wheel Tracks"

From Sol 104

It probably came off a rock at just the right time to leave one imprint, then back up on another rock.

edit on 27-11-2012 by Zarniwoop because: (no reason given)

This just about says it all. Nice find friend!

reply to post by Avgudar


what about the other 3 wheels, or this one wheel really, really lucky.

reply to post by mcx1942

That was my question in my earlier posts, the other wheels are out of frame perhaps.

Another image from another site talking about this.




Seems to be the wheel track.

Another image shows it from a different angle look at the left side of the image just below the wheel!!!!

reply to post by Shino


Good find. Looks artificial for sure. But so does The Giants Causeway. But then again. Who knows what we'll find on there. I hope it isn't natural.

reply to post by wmd_2008


wmd --

That second picture you posted is quite telling.

It looks to me as if the rover could have ventured forward a little bit, with that wheel (the wheel up on that rock) coming off the rock a little, with a portion of the wheel (not the whole wheel) making contact with the soil, while the rest of the wheel remained propped up on the rock. Then they may have backed up again, leaving that mark behind.

Looking at that image, and the location of the wheel up on that rock, that seems quite plausible to me.


EDIT TO ADD:
I think that is the same image that Zarniwoop posted on the previous page, but his image is an excerpt of this whole image. Between your post and Zarniwoop's, I think the answer could possibly be that this is a wheel mark.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

think that is the same image that Zarniwoop posted on the previous page, but his image is an excerpt of this whole image.

That is correct.

Full image here...

From Sol 104

Originally posted by Zarniwoop
reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

 

think that is the same image that Zarniwoop posted on the previous page, but his image is an excerpt of this whole image.

That is correct.

Full image here...

From Sol 104

Another possibility (similar to what I said above) is that as the rover climbed over those rocks, the unevenness of the rovers "footing" caused just one of the six wheels to dangle above the ground just a little -- so it just touched the ground slightly, leaving behind that mark.

OMG!! Its a clear message that were going to be invaded by marsh-ans... lol...

but on the serious side... give your head a shake....we have more breathtaking rock formations here!!

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People
reply to post by wmd_2008

 

wmd --

That second picture you posted is quite telling.

It looks to me as if the rover could have ventured forward a little bit, with that wheel (the wheel up on that rock) coming off the rock a little, with a portion of the wheel (not the whole wheel) making contact with the soil, while the rest of the wheel remained propped up on the rock. Then they may have backed up again, leaving that mark behind.

Looking at that image, and the location of the wheel up on that rock, that seems quite plausible to me.


EDIT TO ADD:
I think that is the same image that Zarniwoop posted on the previous page, but his image is an excerpt of this whole image. Between your post and Zarniwoop's, I think the answer could possibly be that this is a wheel mark.

edit on 11/27/2012 by Soylent Green Is People because: (no reason given)

Yes there is the little rock below the mark which the wheel probably rested on, anyway the evidence that it's a wheel mark adds up when you look at those various pictures.

Rocks form sharp angles all the time, and these just as likely to be a right angles (which these are not anyway) as any other angle. Ever seen a rock face with a series if lines running through them which doesn't quite match up with the rock layers? This is called 'cleavage' (no I'm not making this up) and occurs through the pressures which are excerpted on a rock while deep under the ground. There is an entire school within geological sciences which study this sort of deformation.

The angles themselves occur when cleavage planes intersect either bedding planes or a secondary set of cleavage planes. The rocks themselves then weather preferentially along lines of weakness caused by these cleavage planes and commonly form angles exactly like the one in this picture which are known as 'joints'

So in answer to your question...

Yes, this looks and is completely natural.