NASA’s Curiosity rover found itself in a very sci-fi landscape at the end of last month, in the Marker Band valley.

>After a successful 13 meter weekend drive, Curiosity finds itself in the middle of “Marker Band” valley. The underlaying bedrock has changed dramatically over the last week, from dark and nodular to light-toned and relatively smooth. This area has been of interest to the science team since Gale crater was first selected as the landing site, 10 years in the making! The orbital mineralogical information suggests the presence of Mg-sulfate bearing rocks in this area.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission-updates/9255/sols-3578-3579-a-whole-new-world/

Be interesting to find about the magnesium sulfate because on Earth that would almost always be an evaporite.

Bleak House. Looking like a long abandoned dwelling, this odd formation was snapped by the Perseverance rover last week.

dv said:

Be interesting to find about the magnesium sulfate because on Earth that would almost always be an evaporite.

Good point.

We have evaporites on Ceres, so you’d expect them on Mars as well.

“On 9 December 2015, scientists reported that the bright spots on Ceres may be related to a type of salt, particularly a form of brine containing hydrated magnesium sulfate (MgSO4·6H2O); the spots were also found to be associated with ammonia-rich clays. The bright spots are best explained as resulting from briny water erupted from Ceres’s interior that subsequently sublimated, leaving behind only the salt deposits.”