Home, Sweet Home, Dream becomes Reality Options

[Shaka]

Hope no one minds, but I felt we have to have a new topic, right from the start, as a compendium of all the Factual Observations on this incredible structure...this Mother Ship from another world...this...(who said Burgess Shale? I laughed at that at the time. ) Who will start us off with a detailed description of what we see before us TODAY February 5, 2006 - Super Sunday.
(I'll be running from game to Exploratorium all afternoon!

[jamescanvin]

I haven't seen these two Pancam ESF's stitched together here yet.




It will be in full filter colour as soon as the data is down.

CODE

746 p2364.15 26  26  0   0   2   54   pancam_barnhill_2cx1r_L234567Rall

James

[RNeuhaus]

According to the above picture, I still have no good idea about how these around 25 degree slope of inclination are formed. As an example, the Endurance Crater has slope due to the impact crater and we can see the cross bedding as the ones of Home Plate. My best guess is that the Home Plate was formed by the accumulation of "limestones" produces by the hot water spring over thousand years (I don't think it is build up by millions but thousands years).

But, this guess does not seem to be a strong since I cannot explain well about how the limestones were grown up if the water flush away on its borders.

Maybe, a strong explosion from the nearby volcano at about 170-200 km north west of Gusev at Latitude : 7.5°S, Longitude : 187.2°W and has 5 km of Martian daturm: a Apolinaris Patera was erupted about 3 billions years ago (Hesperian age 3.5 Billions to 1.8 Billions years) and continued intermittently throughout the Hesperian period. The Spirit landing site is located near 14.8°S, 184.6°W.

The initial effusive lava flows that formed the lower part of the dome were followed by more explosive eruptions of pyroclastic rocks and lavas to build the upper, steeper part of the structure. Depletion of the magma chamber by these eruptions or by withdrawal of the magma produced roof collapse and a large caldera. The last eruption from Apollinaris filled the caldera floor and overflowed from a narrow notch in the south wall of the crater. The above picture shows the flows of lava and probably the ash will go to toward southeast where is located the Gusev crater.

 Mars_Global_Surveyor_MOC2_838_Release.html ( 2.88K ) Number of downloads: 475


Thus, to explore the region of Apollinaris Patera will provide important informations on the past volcanic activity on this region of Mars, and its different phases.

Interaction between volcano and ground-ice is also visible in this region. Throughout the growth of the volcano, magmatic heating heating by dikes and other conduits, as well as by lava flows, melted ground ice within the regolith. The resulting desintegration and collapse of the terrain continued into the Late Hesperian and formed cluster of chaotic hills and mesas. Floods from Ma'adim Vallis, a large channel south of the map area, contributed to the breakup of surface rocks.

Anyone have a better explanation about the formation of HP cone?

Rodolfo
A mew update after reading the last post of DFinrock (David), I am able to explain about the formation of HP cone. Good David.


Now I am not suggesting that there was a cave involved. But cold water with lots of dissolved minerals would evaporate very quickly in the thin Martian atmosphere. And the fine-grained mineral deposits should build up steadily. Any sort of mineral spring, hot or cold, should be able to do the job.

David