Reported from Sciencealert, Sunday (27/2/2022), Curiosity has actually seen this type of feature previously called diagenetic crystal clusters. Diagenetics means the recombination or rearrangement of minerals. This feature consists of three-dimensional clusters of crystals, possibly made of a combination of minerals.
Curiosity deputy project scientist Abigail Fraeman said on Twitter that previously seen features were made of salts called sulfates. From previous feature studies like this one found in Mars Initially the feature was embedded in the rock, which eroded over time. However, this group of minerals appears to be resistant to erosion.
Another name for this feature is concretion, which you may remember from the Opportunity rover, which saw a feature dubbed the ‘blueberry’ because it was small and round. You can see the rounded concrete next to the flower-like features in this image.
The rover science team spotted this feature earlier this week and named it ‘Blackthorn Salt’. They used the Mars Hand Lens Imager, called MAHLI, to take pictures close-up this.
This camera is a rover version of the magnifying glass that geologists usually carry into the field. Picture close-up MAHLI reveals minerals and textures on rock surfaces.
Here you can see 3-D models of objects, thanks to Simeon Schmauss: Curiosity discovered other features such as flowers in 2013, and the Spirit rover discovered similar-looking rocks which have been dubbed the ‘cauliflower’ feature because of their prominent protrusions.
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