Post Block Island Meteor Studies (The Western Route), The 6th Leg in our Zig Zag Journey to Endeavour Crater |
Post Block Island Meteor Studies (The Western Route), The 6th Leg in our Zig Zag Journey to Endeavour Crater |
Nov 28 2009, 07:39 PM
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#766
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
> How far are we from the fresh crater?
Less then 350m. |
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Nov 29 2009, 01:12 PM
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#767
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
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Nov 29 2009, 04:28 PM
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#768
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Member Group: Members Posts: 233 Joined: 21-April 05 Member No.: 328 |
Stu, great job! That really is an interesting patch of real estate . . . and there are our Meridiani layers peeking through, as reliable as ever.
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Nov 29 2009, 06:04 PM
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#769
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
There is a red clay jogging track near where I live here in Taipei. In August when the ants are migrating, they engineer little roads across the track that look very much like the one Stu has colorized. The end product really looks uncannily similar, but of course if Opportunity were out there on my jogging track she would have seen the little critters in action, not merely their accomplishments. Are we really sure that the rover itself did not somehow leave a scuff mark?
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Nov 29 2009, 11:23 PM
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#770
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
Couple of 3D views of Oppy herself... careful, that antenna (1st pic) will have yer eye out...!
http://twitpic.com/rijcd http://twitpic.com/rij8t -------------------- |
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Dec 1 2009, 08:28 PM
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#771
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 4247 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 |
In the latest Planetary report, it's reported that the team has concluded that MI is not a meteorite:
QUOTE “One week ago I couldn't tell you if it's Martian or a meteorite,” said Squyres. “We know now it is a Martian rock. It's got a very low concentration of nickel, so it's not a meteorite. It's Martian. We're still working on it, so this is highly preliminary: it appears to be a coarse-grained igneous rock quite rich in olivine. We believe it also contains plagioclase and pyroxene. The closest match that we have ever seen with this would be some of the rocks we saw over at the Spirit site.”
Marquette’s composition means “it’s got to be a piece of ejecta from some far away crater,” Squyres continued. |
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Dec 1 2009, 09:07 PM
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#772
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Member Group: Members Posts: 178 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 498 |
Sol 2078 (Sat 28 Nov) Pancams. These more than normally pronounced 'channels' almost look like they could have been made by Oppy - They look fascinating. Suggestion: Oppy drove over a slightly loose plate of rock and it tilted enough to shift the dust along its edge. |
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Dec 1 2009, 09:34 PM
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#773
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10169 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
We've actually seen countless examples of things like this along the way. Nothing very special about it.
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PD: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Dec 1 2009, 09:39 PM
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#774
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
Another tidbit from the latest report:
QUOTE “We have not yet decided whether to grind this thing," said Squyres. "The RAT teeth are a limited resource at this point. This is a hard rock, not like the soft sediments that one sees at Meridiani. It's probably as hard as Adirondack is. We're trying to get to Endeavour and I want the RAT working when we get there. But what did we design the RAT for? Situations like this. The question we face is: 'How much of the remaining RAT capability would we use up by grinding into this thing and how much would we learn scientifically and is it worth it?'" and QUOTE We have a responsibility; a duty here to figure out everything it has to say before we leave it. We'll be here as long as that takes.
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Dec 1 2009, 11:09 PM
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#775
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Member Group: Members Posts: 507 Joined: 10-September 08 Member No.: 4338 |
It seems like a no-brainer to save the RAT for the soft clays at Endeavour. Why waste it on a hard basalt? What could we possibly learn that would be worth it?
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Dec 1 2009, 11:39 PM
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#776
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Member Group: Members Posts: 233 Joined: 21-April 05 Member No.: 328 |
MarkG, take a bow -- olivine!
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Dec 2 2009, 08:17 AM
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#777
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Why waste it on a hard basalt? What could we possibly learn that would be worth it? If we knew what we were going to learn - then we wouldn't be doing ANY of this, would we? If it's actually a piece of primordial crust, as suggest by Squyres, then studying it is important. It's quite likely that the rock out at Endeavour will be the same exceptionally soft rock we've been used to at Eagle, Endurance and Victoria - which consumes almost no RAT bit at all. |
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Dec 2 2009, 04:44 PM
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#778
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2998 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
QUOTE it appears to be a coarse-grained igneous rock quite rich in olivine. We believe it also contains plagioclase and pyroxene. Post#733:"Phenocrysts? A healed fracture? Peridotite (or gabbro)? " -------------------- |
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Dec 2 2009, 05:08 PM
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#779
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Member Group: Members Posts: 146 Joined: 31-October 08 Member No.: 4473 |
Olivine: The brushed areas of M.I. just had the "look" of coarse-grained olivine, the way the crystal surfaces look and the non-red semi-translucent look. The sharper edged grains are likely pyroxene and feldspar.
I hope more areas of the rock get brushed before (and if) a grind site is chosen. I see veins and inclusions that merit a clear look. The coarseness of grain and high olivine content definitely imply that this rock came from significant depth -- the coarse grain size implies slow crystallization (and slow cooling) far from the surface, and the veins imply shear and rework at depth (the filled in veins are as hard as the surrounding rock -- it did not fragment along the veins). It took a pretty good impact to excavate this rock, perhaps a 100-km or much more sized crater would be left behind. Which crater would it be? The recent-ness (relative to the Meridiani surface) of the debris of this rock and it shards might cut the potential source list down to a short list. However, it is also possible that a smaller impact "recently" excavated this rock from the rim debris of the original big crater. Even that impact had to be big enough to "gently" throw this rock's parent debris clump on a sub-orbital trajectory. By gently, I mean an non-shock acceleration, since the rock is still intact. Well, maybe this helps folks understand why this rock is so interesting. |
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Dec 2 2009, 06:35 PM
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#780
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Member Group: Members Posts: 362 Joined: 13-April 06 From: Malta Member No.: 741 |
I'm no geologist but olivine would mean this rock was never in contact with water so i suppose that this rock should be older than meridiani.It would be interesting to note whether any olivine was detected at the bottom of deep craters in Meridiani representing an older geological layer prior to the water history in this region..assuming that this olivne rock originated from Meridiani and not from an another region.Any suggestions guys?
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