Mystery Martian Spheres

Small spherical objects fill the field in this mosaic combining four images from the Microscopic Imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The view covers an area about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) across, at an outcrop called "Kirkwood" in the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The individual spherules are up to about one-eighth inch (3 millimeters) in diameter.

The Microscopic Imager took the component images during the 3,064th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (Sept. 6, 2012). For a color view of the Kirkwood outcrop as Opportunity was approaching it two weeks earlier, see PIA16128 .

Puzzling Little Martian Spheres That Don't Taste Like 'Blueberries'

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/oj508252d0.JPG[/atsimg]

These features aren't the Martian spherules we're used to seeing and have puzzled the scientists...so far. The image is a crop of the link and amounts to around an 1.5 inches across. I wonder if they're an outcome of volcanic activity from a time when Mars had water? Chances are, they'll have an idea of the rate of erosion and be able to estimate a period when they were formed.

Assuming they've been worn down from century after century of winds, they must have looked quite unusual (?) in their early days.

Interesting.

I think the new rover will discover quite a bit on Mars, I think we have quite a bit to learn there.

They remind me of iron concretions but I'm no geologist!

As an example, they remind me of this
www1.iwvisp.com...
taken from here;
www1.iwvisp.com...

This one is a bit more exact..
www.art.co.uk...

What you have posted may be one more bit of solid evidence that there was a multitude of activity on Mars..

The other idea that 'popped' in my heas was eggs

reply to post by Extralien


Thats is a very real possibility. Some of them even look like they have "popped"

reply to post by Kandinsky


Explanation: S&F!

Amazing ... but can we be sure its volcanic in origin?

The reason i bring that up is I used to own some dinosaur coprolites [fossilzed pooh] and they were often very studded and knobby and I present these pics (sourced from the internet) as examples ...



D I N O S A U R Tracks & "Craps" [twoguysfossils.com]





How Coprolite Helped Win the First World War (by thestickman @glassdesk) [history.knoji.com]



Museum 9 inch FOSSILIZED DINOSAUR COPROLITE, Madagascar [bluestarminerals.com]



Gold Cretaceous Fossil Pyritized Coprolite Turd Alabama Dinosaur Poop Dung [ebay.com]





NEW THEORIES ON OLD DINOSAURS by F. Joseph Bell [orangecountydinosaur.com]



Personal Disclosure: I also considered eggs! ...

Wait, are you guys talking about this?



If that's the case -- yeah, I'm good.

reply to post by MystikMushroom




Seriously though, I doubt its Dino poo. Why would it just be sitting on the surface?