MARS OUTCROP SOURCE OF TINY SPHERES

JPL ^ | sol 13, opportunity, mars | JPL

[djf]

If they can get the rover close, we have a chance to try some simple tests on a sphere that is sitting on a rock. That would be interesting! We can either crush it, or not. If these are some kind of tektites, IMO this is proof there was once water on mars, for them to be layered in with sediments of the past.

[FireTrack]

"In one third gravity they would have to be very fragile to be broken by a fall. But why couldn't they have been broken when the "host" rock broke apart?"

Certainly it is possible that they were broken when the host rock broke apart. It's just that the broken ones seem to be concentrated below opportune protuberances that they may have hit on a fall from above.

Another thing, most seem to have been released when the rock eroded and not broken up. You can see some barely hanging in the rock in the image above.

This indicates that they are made of a material that is a good bit harder than the rock because the spheres don't appear that eroded at all.

Though hard, they could still break easily much like glass or similar material. The molten ejecta theory sounds interesting except for the small and uniform size of these objects. Uniformity suggests some type of natural process whether biological in origin or not. Interesting to say the least!

[djf]

Seems to me, if it was ejecta, we'd see all sorts of other shapes mixed in. Dumbell shapes, tetrahedrons, whatever. But I dont see anything like that. They're all spheres

[doodad]

Here is soemthing that looks similar. I made my wedding rings and a pair of earrings out of garnets I collected out of a weathered formation in Montana.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/images/Schist_garnet_jpg_image.html

[lonevoice]

The imagination is cut loose . . . fun is happening!

Thanks for maintaining the ping list, and I totally concur about the fun happening. These are fast becoming my favorite threads. The analysis and speculation of the participants is first rate, and the humorous comments absent sarcasm or flame throwing make these threads educational and entertaining at the same time.

[FireTrack]

Another thing odd here, is the very large number of spheres in such a small area and that they are ALL perfectly round. Please point out just one unbroken sphere that is lopsided!

[FireTrack]

"Seems to me, if it was ejecta, we'd see all sorts of other shapes mixed in."

Exactly, and much greater variations in size as well.

[doodad]

That is what makes this so stunning. This is VERY rare in nature especially across long periods of time, which would be the case if this is sedimentary.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

You're all wrong, I'm telling you.

Bunny droppings.

[Merdoug]

Here's a non-geology-knowledgable question: could these spheres be light-weight rocks that have been blowing around for a long time and "rounded" by errosion?

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

I am leaning very hard now on water and a concretionary source for this to occur. I can't think of any metamorphic state that would yield spheres unless it was a weird type of retrograde metamorphism affecting certain phenocrysts.

My dog has metamophicized many objects through excretionary processes yielding many spheres which can be found throughout the backyard. I don't think it was phenocrysts though, just kibble. Evidence of Martian canines methinks. ;-P

[FireTrack]

One item that needs further investigation. Are these truly being eroded from the outcropping or are these simply lodged in the crevices and holes in the rock?

[doodad]

Doesn't appear that way due to there appearence in the formation eroding out of it. Or do you mean they come from somewhere else and rolled into a depositing sediment? I really don't think that likely as no desert process has been seen that duplicates that largely due to few flat surfaces in nature capable of producing that. The shapes seen at Spirit's site are more common as a form called ventifacts or desert pavement here on Earth. Even in a denser fluid such as streams here on earth or the tides that have unlimited time to work sediments, we don't see spheres.

[RightWhale]

Hailstones

[doodad]

Evidence of Martian canines methinks

Are you sirius? That only happens on the dogstar.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[doodad]

Look at the center rock, you can see several of them that are only partially exposed.

[djf]

Now that you mention it, reminds me of my rock tumbler days. Tiger Eye, various agates, the beauty inside a plain old rock can be stunning.

But even after weeks in the tumbler, with successively finer grits, I never got anything close to perfect spheres!

[Ichneumon]

If they are very fragile, the only way for them to be here in these numbers means one thing: they are somehow being replenished.

Martian mushrooms?

[djf]

And the fact that there is such a large number of them exposed leads me to speculate further.

If they were solid, they would be denser than the sand, and would sink.

They are hollow.