{"id":276157,"date":"2025-04-07T13:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/check-out-some-of-the-weird-rocks-that-have-turned-up-on-mars\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T13:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:24:18","slug":"check-out-some-of-the-weird-rocks-that-have-turned-up-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/check-out-some-of-the-weird-rocks-that-have-turned-up-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out some of the weird rocks that have turned up on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><\/div> \r\n<br><div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n<p>As the Mars rover Perseverance crested the top of Witch Hazel Hill, its operators back on Earth expected amazing things. This area on the western rim of the Jezero crater, along an ancient river delta that Perseverance has been exploring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/mars-how-watch-nasa-perseverance-lander-touch-down\">since it landed in 2021<\/a>, is thought to contain some of the oldest rocks on the planet\u2019s surface. The light-toned, layered materials promise a record of a wetter time, possibly one that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/nasa-perseverance-rover-hint-life-mars\">hosted life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team did not expect what they found on March 11: a dark rock resembling a clutch of frog\u2019s eggs. Dubbed St. Paul\u2019s Bay, the rock looks nothing like its neighbors. Where it came from and how it formed are a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<style><![CDATA[\n.email-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  color: white;\n  margin-top: 50px;\n  background-image: url(\"\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.jpg\");\n  padding: 20px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n\n]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n<style class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><![CDATA[#newsletter-helper svg {\n    width: auto;\n    fill: #f1563e;\n}\n\n#newsletter-helper {\n    display: flex;\n    border-top: 1px solid gray;\n    padding-top: 10px;\n    padding-left: 20px;\n    margin-bottom: 10px;\n    max-width: 900px; \n    margin: auto\n}\n\n.zephr-form-container {\n    border-bottom: 1px solid gray;\n    margin: 0px !important;\n}\n]]><\/style><div id=\"newsletter-helper\">\n  <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 122.88 78.607\" height=\"25\" viewbox=\"0 0 122.88 78.607\" width=\"30\"><path clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"m61.058 65.992 24.224-24.221 36.837 36.836h-48.446-25.23-48.443l36.836-36.836zm-59.657-65.992 59.656 59.654 59.657-59.654zm-1.401 69.673 31.625-31.628-31.625-31.625zm122.88 3.025-34.653-34.653 34.653-34.652z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg>\n  <h3 style=\"margin-left: 10px; margin-top:2px; margin-bottom:0px;\">Sign up for our newsletter<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 20px; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; margin: auto\">We summarize the week&#8217;s science breakthroughs every Thursday.<\/p>                        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var(--zephr-input-borderColor);--zf-payment-options-borderRadius:calc(var(--zephr-input-borderRadius) * 1px);--zf-payment-options-highlighted-color:var(--zephr-color-text-main);--zf-payment-options-highlighted-bgColor:var(--zephr-color-accent-main);--zf-payment-summary-fontSize:var(--zf-subtext-fontSize);--zf-payment-summary-color:var(--zephr-color-text-main);--zf-payment-summary-bgColor:var(--zf-input-bgColor);--zf-payment-summary-border:calc(var(--zephr-input-borderWidth) * 1px) solid var(--zephr-input-borderColor);--zf-payment-summary-borderRadius:calc(var(--zephr-input-borderRadius) * 1px);--zf-list-subscriptions-container-maxWidth:630px;--zf-list-subscriptions-container-padding:24px;--zf-list-subscriptions-section-padding:16px 0px;--zf-list-subscriptions-container-border:calc(var(--zephr-input-borderWidth) * 1px) solid var(--zephr-input-borderColor);--zf-list-subscriptions-container-borderRadius:calc(var(--zephr-input-borderRadius) * 1px);--zf-list-subscriptions-info-fontSize:var(--zf-info-fontSize)}.zephr-form.svelte-jjl1p8{color:var(--zf-container-color);margin:var(--zf-container-margin);font-size:var(--zf-root-fontSize);font-family:var(--zf-root-fontFamily)}.zephr-form *{box-sizing:border-box}:where(.zephr-form) button{text-transform:unset;overflow:visible;font-family:var(--zf-root-fontFamily, unset);font-size:var(--zf-root-fontSize, unset);line-height:unset;margin:unset;padding:unset;border:unset;background:unset;&:hover, &:focus-visible {\n            border: unset;\n            background: unset;\n        }}.zephr-form-disabled-div{pointer-events:none;opacity:0.8}.zephr-form-relative-container{position:relative}.zephr-form-flex-container{display:flex}.zephr-form-input-inner-button{cursor:pointer;position:absolute;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);right:5px;padding:10px 5px}.zephr-form-input-inner-text{color:var(--zephr-color-text-main);font-size:var(--zf-subtext-fontSize);font-weight:bold;font-family:var(--zf-root-fontFamily)}\n]]><\/style>\n                        \n                        <style><![CDATA[.zephr-form-content {\n    display: flex;\n    flex-wrap: wrap;\n}\n\n.zephr-form-relative-container {\n    flex: 40%\n}\n\n.zephr-form-input {\n    border-radius: 0px !important;\n}\n\n.zephr-form-button {\n    width: 130px !important;\n    margin-top: 0px !important;\n    background-color: #2b3136 !important;\n    text-transform: none !important;\n    font-weight: 900 !important;\n    letter-spacing: 0.075em;\n    font-size: 1.2em !important;\n    border-radius: 0px !important;\n}\n\n.zephr-form-custom-text {\n    width: 100% !important;\n    margin-top: 3px !important;\n}\n\nlabel {\n    display: none !important;\n}\n\n.zephr-form-container {\n    max-height: 130px;\n    max-width: 900px;\n    margin: auto !important;\n    margin-bottom: 20px !important;\n}\n\n.zephr-form {\n    margin: 0px !important;\n    overflow-clip-margin: content-box;\n    --zf-container-bgColor: none;\n    --zf-container-maxWidth: 900px;\n}\n\n.zephr-form h3 {\n    font-size: 1.4rem;\n    font-weight: 500;\n    color: #2b3136;\n    margin-top: 0px;\n}\n\n.zephr-form p {\n    text-align: left;\n    margin: 0px;\n    color: #2b3136;\n    font-size: .7rem;\n}]]><\/style>\n                        \n                        \n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s just the latest weird rock discovered in nearly 30 years of rovers rolling across the Martian surface. In the past year alone, the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have found several rocks unlike anything seen on Mars before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of these rocks carry lessons about the history of water on Mars and its potential for supporting life. One even contains tantalizing hints that microbes really were active on Mars once \u2014 hints that so far have stood up to scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAfter decades, we continue to be surprised by the things we discover on this wonderfully complex planet,\u201d says planetary scientist Abigail Fraeman of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As calls to send humans to the Red Planet intensify, a thorough search for Martian life grows more important. Once humans arrive, it may be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/manned-mission-mars-humans-microbes-life\">impossible to tell whether biological signs were Martian<\/a> to begin with or brought from Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe perspective we get from our rovers\u00ad \u2014 and helicopters! \u2014 on the surface is so important for our exploration,\u201d Fraeman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a tour of some of the weirdest rocks ever seen on Mars, all spotted in the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The sulfur in the stone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In late May 2024, the Curiosity rover drove over a rock and cracked it open, revealing yellow crystals of pure sulfur inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While scientists have seen sulfur on Mars before, it was always bound up with other elements to make salts like sulfate. Curiosity\u2019s instruments showed that this rock contained pure, elemental sulfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis has never been found on Mars before, ever,\u201d Fraeman says.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-elements-27c40654034fbeecef6418d6adfe0794\" style=\"color:gray; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:.9rem;\">Sponsor Message<\/p>\n<!-- Tag ID: sciencenews-org_leaderboard_incontent -->\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>On Earth, elemental sulfur forms in various environments, including hot springs, cold springs, hydrothermal deposits, volcanoes and their associated vents. In some settings, like the Arctic, elemental sulfur\u2019s formation is related to microbial activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not the default assumption here, but it\u2019s interesting,\u201d Fraeman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>History urges caution on the microbial front. Previous claims that Mars rocks contain signs of life, such as the ALH84001 meteorite in the 1990s, sparked excitement before it was shown that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/organic-molecules-mars-meteorite-geology-alien-life\">purported fossils formed through geological processes instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help <a href=\"https:\/\/agu.confex.com\/agu\/agu24\/meetingapp.cgi\/Paper\/1734187\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">narrow down how the yellow crystals formed<\/a>, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico will compare the on-site chemistry analysis of the Martian sulfur to samples from Hawaii, the Chilean Atacama desert and a hydrothermal volcanic region in New Mexico called Valles Caldera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the leopard got its spots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Jezero crater, the Perseverance rover has been searching for signs of past life. In July 2024, it appeared to finally find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The excitement came from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/nasa-perseverance-rover-hint-life-mars\">a rock named Cheyava Falls<\/a>, which is speckled with black, blue and green spots researchers dubbed \u201cpoppy seeds\u201d along with slightly larger bull\u2019s-eye features called \u201cleopard spots.\u201d The poppy seeds and the outer rims of the leopard spots are rich in iron phosphate molecules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3152938\">This rock contains \u201cleopard spots\u201d (bright circles with dark outer rings) and \u201cpoppy seeds\u201d (small dark dots) that scientists think could have formed from the activity of ancient microbes. The Perseverance rover sampled the rock, called Chevaya Falls, in July 2024.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3152938\">JPL-Caltech\/NASA, MSSS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On Earth, similar spots form in the presence of microbes. The chemical reactions that create the iron phosphate rings provide energy for microbial growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese properties mark poppy seeds and leopard spots as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hou.usra.edu\/meetings\/lpsc2025\/pdf\/2581.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>potential <\/em>biosignatures<\/a>,\u201d wrote planetary scientist Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University in New York and colleagues in an abstract for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held in The Woodlands, Texas, in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA had originally announced the finding in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/nasas-perseverance-rover-scientists-find-intriguing-mars-rock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">news release<\/a> on July 25. Since then, scientists have been testing various scenarios to explain how the poppy seeds and leopard spots could have formed. Geobiologist Michael Tice of Texas A&amp;M University in College Station and colleagues presented their analysis of those scenarios at the LPSC meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlthough other potential abiotic mechanisms should be investigated, this analysis suggests that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hou.usra.edu\/meetings\/lpsc2025\/pdf\/2133.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">biological metabolisms are the most likely processes<\/a> currently proposed for formation of these unique features,\u201d the group wrote in their conference abstract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perseverance drilled a sample from the rock and stored it for a future mission to return to Earth. That mission\u2019s funding is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/nasas-budget-woes-space-research-risk\">in limbo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A zebra can\u2019t change its stripes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A few months later, Perseverance found another rock reminiscent of wildlife: one with stark black-and-white stripes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis rock is informally named \u2018Freya Castle,\u2019 but the team affectionately calls it \u2018zebra rock\u2019 for obvious reasons,\u201d says planetary scientist Katie Stack Morgan of the Jet Propulsion Lab. \u201cBetween the leopard spots at Cheyava Falls and our new zebra rock, we\u2019re starting to fill up our rock menagerie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline2.jpg?fit=680%2C505&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"A large black-and-white striped rock sitting on a field of red dirt.\" class=\"wp-image-3152937\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline2.jpg?w=680&amp;ssl=1 680w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline2.jpg?resize=516%2C383&amp;ssl=1 516w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline2.jpg?resize=606%2C450&amp;ssl=1 606w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline2.jpg?resize=250%2C186&amp;ssl=1 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3152937\">The unusual black-and-white stripes in this \u201czebra rock,\u201d photographed by the Perseverance rover in September 2024, resembles patterns sometimes seen in volcanic rocks on Earth.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3152937\">JPL-Caltech\/NASA, ASU<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The rock was spotted in low-resolution navigation camera images as the rover traversed some pebbly terrain. Engineers snapped a closer photo with the rover\u2019s main camera but drove Perseverance away before the images downloaded to Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means scientists don\u2019t have any data on the rock\u2019s composition, Stack Morgan says. But from the closeup image, a reasonable guess is that the white parts of the rock are feldspar, a common mineral in both Earth\u2019s and Mars\u2019 crust. The black stripes could be a pyroxene, often formed in volcanic lava, or amphibole, a kind of silicate-bearing mineral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nothing like this has been seen on Mars before, but on Earth, the zebra stripe pattern occurs in volcanic rocks formed in particular kinds of magma chambers. One thing is clear, Stack Morgan says: Freya Castle is so different from the underlying bedrock that it probably was not born where it sits now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know where it came from or how it found its way into the crater,\u201d she says, but it might have come from ancient bedrock exposed within the rim of the Jezero crater. Perseverance is currently driving along that rim and may find the zebra rock\u2019s source there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Suddenly spherules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>St. Paul\u2019s Bay \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/blog\/shocking-spherules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the \u201cfrog\u2019s eggs rock\u201d<\/a> spotted on March 11 \u2014 is reminiscent of other odd finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly after landing in 2004, the Opportunity rover discovered hematite spherules dubbed \u201cblueberries.\u201d And Fraeman says that St. Paul\u2019s Bay reminds her of another Opportunity finding: a sphere-studded rock with a different composition that the team called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/nasa-mars-rover-opportunity-reveals-geological-mystery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newberries<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline3_desktop.jpg?resize=680%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Close-up of a rock covered in small dark round spheres\" class=\"wp-image-3152936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline3_desktop.jpg?w=680&amp;ssl=1 680w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline3_desktop.jpg?resize=579%2C383&amp;ssl=1 579w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline3_desktop.jpg?resize=281%2C186&amp;ssl=1 281w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3152936\">This rock\u2019s color and texture are nothing like its neighbors, suggesting it originated elsewhere. The little round blobs could have been formed from groundwater or volcanic activity. The Perseverance rover took this close-up on March 11, 2025.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3152936\">JPL-Caltech\/NASA, LANL, CNES, IRAP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if the spheres in either of those rocks are related to the ones in St. Paul\u2019s Bay. Those newfound spheres could have formed from groundwater circulating through the rock\u2019s pores in Mars\u2019s past (a possible origin story for the blueberries as well). They could also have originated from rapidly cooling molten droplets following a volcanic eruption or from rock that was vaporized after a meteorite impact and subsequently recondensed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like the zebra rock, St. Paul\u2019s Bay might be a geological interloper. Figuring out where it came from will be important to determining how it formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n<br>\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/weird-mars-rocks\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Mars rover Perseverance crested the top of Witch Hazel Hill, its operators back on Earth expected amazing things. This area on the western rim of the Jezero crater, along an ancient river delta that Perseverance has been exploring since it landed in 2021, is thought to contain some of the oldest rocks on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/040125_lg_weird-mars-rocks_inline1.jpg?fit=680%2C506&ssl=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[2313,251,25291,11156,2414],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276159,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276157\/revisions\/276159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}