[X] My Assistant

[Bill Harris]

We're starting to get MI's in from the "scratch and sniff" stop on the Etched Terrain on the way to Erebus:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all...47P2936M2M1.JPG

Similar to what we saw elsewhere here: blueberries eroding out of vuggy evaporite.

--Bill

[Bill Harris]

Is that a strange MI from Sol 546 or what ??

Yes!

New MI images for Sols 544, 545 and 546. Pre-brushed, brushed and RATted.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/opportunity.html

--Bill

[centsworth_II]

The big difference I see is that that in previous RATings through "blueberries" there was often a visible separation between the "berry" and the surrounding matrix. I don't see any such separation in these latest images.

[dvandorn]

The big difference I see is that that in previous RATings through "blueberries" there was often a visible separation between the "berry" and the surrounding matrix. I don't see any such separation in these latest images.

I have a new theory about the appearance of the rock in this RAT hole.

We're approaching Erebus, right? Erebus is a bigger crater than Victoria, although a lot older. In fact, it seems likely that Erebus was formed before the waters receded.

That would mean that Erebus ejecta would have been scattered on top of an existing evaporite layer, only to become embedded in later evaporite layers.

I think the dark cobbles we've been seeing, increasing in population density as we approach Erebus, are in fact the remnants of Erebus ejecta that have eroded out of the evaporite. I also think that the dark clasts visible in these MIs are small-grained ejecta particles that became embedded in the evaporite as it formed around it, during evaporite deposition eras that post-dated the Erebus impact.

And I think these materials may represent the sub-floor material that lies below the evaporite layer.

What do y'all think?

-the other Doug