Mars stuff

NASA ^ | 3/14/04 | Self

[Monty22]

Look at those holes. Those are the 'berrys'.

Can a non-life berry even expel itself and go along its way. Especially with the strands we've seen holding them up. If a 'berry' can be pushed out naturally, how?

[al baby]

Have the rovers taken pictures of the flag the astronautes put up there yet?

[Monty22]

hah hah..

Funny, aren't there any real scientific people on here that'll look?

[Crazieman]

Wind and sand erosion.

[Monty22]

In precise motion?

I've never seen utter pits on rocks like that ever. Impossible.

Not localized pits. Never.

[Crazieman]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Monty22]

Explain those pits and 'berry's..

All found on the same spot. Spherical berrys and lots of weird pits in rocks..

c'mon. There's no way that's natural.

[Crazieman]

#1 The photograph is at an odd angle
#2 They're still investigating the berries, but the likeliest explanation is phenomena from the craters formation. Similar things have been seen on earth
#3 The berry-less areas of the ground are windblown. They are usually linear and follow the rock crevices.
(have to run to work now)

[Born in a Rage]

Define natural. Mars is not Earth so what's 'natrual' isn't necessarily the same - jmo.

[Monty22]

They'll be different. To me, 'natural' means non biological.

Look at the pics. Are they? I don't know.

[King Prout]

what the hell?
a scale reference'd be useful

[Monty22]

I don't have a scale actually, those are just raw pics.

Interesting though, that defies any natural 'pitting' action, I think.

[King Prout]

not at all.
what you call "pits" might be gas inclusions in porous rock, exposed by the ages of sandblasting by Mars' notorious coriolis storms.
or maybe not.
point is: don't get yer knickers in a twist so easily.

[Monty22]

I'm not, but that's the Opportunity site which we've seen the berrys laying around below these 'holes'.

My question is.. What can cause this? Is there any known rock abrasion that causes little holes like this at non-repeating spots?

I think not. If it's natural, it's a whole new natural process that Earth science can not begin to understand.

[BlazingArizona]

All found on the same spot. Spherical berrys and lots of weird pits in rocks.. c'mon. There's no way that's natural.

there are two natural possibilities: the 'blueberries' are oolites or tektites that are harder than the country rock and just weather out of it, OR... the holes are not from the berries at all, but contained soluble crystals that were dissolved away (halite in water, for instance), leaving the pits.

[Monty22]

Can a mimilized-enviro thing explain these 'berrys' and the 'holes' in one statement?

I'd like to see a full understanding of natural chemical reactions of how this happens, without biology.

[King Prout]

sedimentary rock deposited by wing can have remarkable variations in content.
volcanic rock can have irregular gas pockets

both types, after being scoured, could produce a pitted surface of this kind.

that's one of the reasons i wanted a scale factor.
is this image microns across, meters, of kilometers?

[Monty22]

On the scale, I don't know, I believe the rocks are in the foot-wide width at most, I'm pretty sure with that. The scale is small. Those pits and the berrys are an inch wide I believe at most.

[King Prout]

THEN MY MONEY IS ON MINERAL OR GASSEOUS INCLUSIONS WHICH HAVE ERODED AT A DIFFERENT RATE THAN THE PARENT ROCK BODY.
capslok, sorry. not shouting.

[Monty22]

Jeez..

I am just wondering on what the berrys and holes are.

If it's natural, it's an amazing new avenue of geology.

If not, then for biology.

Either way, this is a huge deal.