What is this that MSL (Curiosity) just rolled up on?

[Aethon]

I've looked at the surface of Mars nearly everyday since MSL landed and I've never seen anything like this.  These Mastcam images were taken during the last 24 hours (sol 1349).

 

 

I'm not sure whether the pressure is high enough at this altitude on Mt. Sharp for water to have a liquid phase, but this is definitely something new.  I wonder if we'll hear more about it in coming days?

 

 

It could be a sand slide, but it looks different from the other slides I've seen.

 

 

 

 

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/

Edited May 25, 2016 by Aethon

[lajoswinkler]

The scale is too tiny, I'd say this is probably ancient perchlorate/sulfate mud burp.

[insert_name]

Wow that looks somewhat hydrated.

[PB666]

14 hours ago, insert_name said:

Wow that looks somewhat hydrated.

A dried mud flow covered by loose sand that eroded away. 

Edited May 25, 2016 by PB666

[p1t1o]

13 hours ago, insert_name said:

Wow that looks somewhat hydrated.

Fine powders can behave surprisingly like fluids, especially when dry.

[kerbiloid]

If this is not a part of something bigger, probably Mark Watney had a stop here.

Otherwise, there would be a big lake of such thing.

[lajoswinkler]

On 25.05.2016. at 10:31 AM, p1t1o said:

Fine powders can behave surprisingly like fluids, especially when dry.

Powders flow differently. Suddenly and with jagged, concave surfaces at the top of the flow. This has all the lobate appearance of a mud flow.

[p1t1o]

10 minutes ago, lajoswinkler said:

Powders flow differently. Suddenly and with jagged, concave surfaces at the top of the flow. This has all the lobate appearance of a mud flow.

I think that depends. Looks a lot like fine dust/powder to me. We need to send a guy up there to just like shuffle around in the dirt to see if anything is wet.

 

[KerikBalm]

I seem to recall that they said curiosity was within driving range of the RSL... could this be a small example of what RSL look like up close?

[p1t1o]

5 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

I seem to recall that they said curiosity was within driving range of the RSL... could this be a small example of what RSL look like up close?

Hard to say without further data - I think assuming so just because we are looking at something dark and looks like it flows would be jumping the gun by quite a long way.

 

[KerikBalm]

of course... its a question, not my favored conclusion.

Are they gonna go take a scoop of it?

[p1t1o]

46 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

of course... its a question, not my favored conclusion.

I mean it definitely is plausible.

47 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Are they gonna go take a scoop of it?

I dunno, when did curiosity last eat?

[lajoswinkler]

4 hours ago, p1t1o said:

I think that depends. Looks a lot like fine dust/powder to me. We need to send a guy up there to just like shuffle around in the dirt to see if anything is wet.

 

There is no reason for it to be wet. It would dry up in no time cause it's too small. We're probably looking at a very old (in human history time spans), but also very young (geologically) thing.

It's lobate everywhere. Edge, surface, top. Dry powder will not do that. And if we consider erosion, eolic erosion would wipe the whole damn thing in no time, not just jagged edges left after dry powder slide. For this to survive long enough, it would have to be reinforced with salts which is exactly what's left after an insoluble solid wet with a solution of soluble solid gets dry.

Edited May 27, 2016 by lajoswinkler

[p1t1o]

9 minutes ago, lajoswinkler said:

<snip>

Haha no it doesnt have to be wet I just wrote that as having a guy shuffle his hands around in it would provide a ton of data that we dont get from a photo!

Like "Oooh ohmygosh it tickles!" or "Ew it feel gross!"

 

On another note, what makes you think it is so old?

[Aethon]

I wonder why no one has mentioned it in any of the space news.  Could it be embargoed for some sort of publication?

From what I can glean from the raw images, MSL didn't sample anything in this area-  not even with Chemcam, and has since moved on.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Aethon

[sevenperforce]

4 hours ago, p1t1o said:

On another note, what makes you think it is so old?

Everything on Mars is pretty darn old.

[KerikBalm]

except the RSL and geyser features, which are seasonal... other than that... if its a feature not shaped by wind, the odds are its ancient.

 

*edit* although the MRO has spotted some fresh craters that appeared between photographs

Edited May 27, 2016 by KerikBalm

[p1t1o]

Is that superfine green/blue line the chemcam laser or is it my imagination? They surely know what it is if that is the case (pew pew!).

[Aethon]

No.  I assume the line comes from stitching the two images together.  Chemcam looks like the below image.

 

 

 

 

[Camacha]

Is technology not amazing? We strap a robot to a tower full of explosives, so we can scoop a bit of sand up to see if it might be wet.

That almost beats cat pictures on demand.

[Aethon]

 

I found this article of semi relevance.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2016/05/although-boiling-water-does-shape-martian-terrain