During its most recent mission to the surface of Mars, the Curiosity rover captured a photograph of something rather appealing. While the thing in issue seems to be a small little flower or possibly some sort of biological feature, the rover team determined that it is, in fact, a mineral formation with intricate structures generated by minerals settling from water on the surface of Mars.
It is possible that Curiosity has already seen these sorts of characteristics, which are known as diagenetic crystal clusters. ‘Diagenetic’ refers to the crossover or reorganization of minerals, and all these characteristics are defined by three-dimensional crystal clusters, which are most likely generated from a mixture of minerals. Sulfates are the salts that were used to create the characteristics that were previously visible.
It has been determined from prior studies of similar structures discovered on Mars that the feature was initially buried inside a rock that was gradually worn away over time. These mineral clusters, on the other hand, seem to be more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock.
Concretion is also another term for these formations. You may recall the Opportunity rover seeing concretion features that were called ‘blueberries’ since they were tiny and spherical, which led to the moniker.
This formation was discovered by the rover scientific team previously this week and given the term ‘Blackthorn Salt.’ C lose-up photographs were captured by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which is part of the rover’s robotic arm. This camera serves as the rover’s equivalent of the zooming hand optics that geologists often take with them while working in the field.
Back in 2013, the Curiosity rover discovered another flower-like structure, while the Spirit rover discovered rocks that were similar in appearance but were termed “cauliflower” characteristics because of their chunky thickenings.
