Spherules found at the Spirit site.

" George" wrote in message
.. .

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2943M2M1.JPG


Incredible!

The spheres at the Spirit site appear as dunes, but there
are several pics showing sizable rocks on top of the
these dunes.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2532R1M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389R2M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389L5M1.HTML
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P1635R0M1.HTML


And what the 'ell is this?
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389R2M1.HTML


And does this pic show the spheres are eroding away and uncovering
a basalt rock?
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2599L2M1.JPG


It looks to me the spheres at the Spirit site are different, they seem less uniformly
spherical and the broken pieces seem to be missing. They appear more like the
spheres eroding out of the sedimentary rock at the Opportunity site.
So I would speculate the Spirit spheres are the fossilized version being
uncovered by erosion.

And in this pic the shapes appear to be determined by contact
with each other, especially in the upper left. Where a couple
are u-shaped around another.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2943M2M1.JPG

I think this puts a big damper on the idea they formed in
the atmosphere as fallout, but more likely underwater.
The dunes at the Spirit site might be from ancient
wave action, not wind.

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.


Jonathan

s

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

" George" wrote in message
.. .


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2943M2M1.JPG


Incredible!

The spheres at the Spirit site appear as dunes, but there
are several pics showing sizable rocks on top of the
these dunes.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2532R1M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389R2M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389L5M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P1635R0M1.HTML


And what the 'ell is this?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...P2389R2M1.HTML


And does this pic show the spheres are eroding away and uncovering
a basalt rock?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2599L2M1.JPG


It looks to me the spheres at the Spirit site are different, they seem
less uniformly
spherical and the broken pieces seem to be missing. They appear more like
the
spheres eroding out of the sedimentary rock at the Opportunity site.
So I would speculate the Spirit spheres are the fossilized version being
uncovered by erosion.

And in this pic the shapes appear to be determined by contact
with each other, especially in the upper left. Where a couple
are u-shaped around another.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...6P2943M2M1.JPG

I think this puts a big damper on the idea they formed in
the atmosphere as fallout, but more likely underwater.
The dunes at the Spirit site might be from ancient
wave action, not wind.

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.


Jonathan


Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?

" George" wrote in message
.. .


Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?


Perhaps I should be asking you.
The dunes made of spheres at the Spirit
site are clearly ancient, else they wouldn't
have rocks on top. So the spheres must
have cemented them in place.

Nasa picked this site due to the evidence
it was an ancient lake. Have you even
looked at the pics?


Jonathan

s

February 15, 2004

George wrote:

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.

Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?

It isn't all that far fetched.

http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/cura...rchForLife.htm

Look at the structure of the globules. While they are smaller by an order of magnitude,
and flattened, as a result of their formation in very narrow fractures and fissures,
they have the basic structure, an inner precipitate, and an iron rich outer coating.
Perhaps the spherules are just the final result of a process where the biogenic
precipitation process is allowed to complete its cycle.

Certainly there is evidence now for a biogenic origin of terrestrial banded iron
formations.

Whether or not the spherules rain out of a water vapor and mineral rich sky, or out of
a water and mineral rich surface, is almost irrelevant. Precipitation is required for
mineral rich ice sheet formation, and this is what I see here. Regardless, this
indicates a very wet Mars in the distant past, and a very icy Mars in the present.

Jonathon obviously has the details wrong, but the idea is worthy of examination.

Thomas Lee Elifritz
http://elifritz.members.atlantic.net

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.


Jonathan

They are Blue at spirit site too !
http://mars.gh.wh.uni-dortmund.de/me...4L5L7.jpg.html

More colors here http://mars.gh.wh.uni-dortmund.de/mer/

Enjoy, ERic

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

" George" wrote in message
.. .


Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?


Perhaps I should be asking you.
The dunes made of spheres at the Spirit
site are clearly ancient, else they wouldn't
have rocks on top.

The presence of rocks on top of anything has nothing to do with how old they
are. However, I will agree with you that they are very old, but for
entirely different reasons.

So the spheres must
have cemented them in place.

How so?

Nasa picked this site due to the evidence
it was an ancient lake. Have you even
looked at the pics?


Well yeah, since I posted the link to them.

"Thomas Lee Elifritz" wrote in message
...
February 15, 2004

George wrote:

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.

Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?

It isn't all that far fetched.


http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/cura...rchForLife.htm

Look at the structure of the globules. While they are smaller by an order
of magnitude,
and flattened, as a result of their formation in very narrow fractures and
fissures,
they have the basic structure, an inner precipitate, and an iron rich
outer coating.
Perhaps the spherules are just the final result of a process where the
biogenic
precipitation process is allowed to complete its cycle.

You could certainly try to make that case, although based on what evidence
that the ROVER has collected, I have no idea. Based on the evidence that
the rover has thus far collected, it is far more likely that the spherules
are simply volcanic/impact related. In fact, I think it is far more likely
that this is the case.

Certainly there is evidence now for a biogenic origin of terrestrial
banded iron
formations.

No doubt. But that is not what we are talking about here.

Whether or not the spherules rain out of a water vapor and mineral rich
sky, or out of
a water and mineral rich surface, is almost irrelevant. Precipitation is
required for
mineral rich ice sheet formation, and this is what I see here. Regardless,
this
indicates a very wet Mars in the distant past, and a very icy Mars in the
present.

So where's the ICE?

Jonathon obviously has the details wrong, but the idea is worthy of
examination.

Thomas Lee Elifritz
http://elifritz.members.atlantic.net

I would recommend that you read the following article. It is worthwhile, and
addresses some of the same issues:

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...es_040211.html

"Eric Pouhier" wrote in message
...

These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.


Jonathan

They are Blue at spirit site too !

Color is irrelevant to proving that the spherules are alive!!!

http://mars.gh.wh.uni-dortmund.de/me...4L5L7.jpg.html

More colors here http://mars.gh.wh.uni-dortmund.de/mer/

Enjoy, ERic

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

" George" wrote in message
.. .


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0506P2943M2
M1.JPG


Incredible!

The spheres at the Spirit site appear as dunes, but there
are several pics showing sizable rocks on top of the
these dunes.

I will admit that the first time I saw that image I was shocked
that there appeared to be spherules at both sites.
And in greater quantities at the Spirit site.
However, The "spheres" at the Spirit site are anything but.
Only a few are remotely as spherical as the spherules
seen at the Opportunity site. These appear to be pebbles
which have been tumbled in a fluid and then deposited
there. They may not even be the same materials.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0514P2532R1
M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EDN0400P2389R2
M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EDN0400P2389L5
M1.HTML

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0400P1635R0
M1.HTML


And what the 'ell is this?

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EDN0400P2389R2
M1.HTML


And does this pic show the spheres are eroding away and uncovering
a basalt rock?


It more likely shows that the dunes flowed in around pre-existing basaltic
rocks.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0506P2599L2
M1.JPG


It looks to me the spheres at the Spirit site are different, they seem
less uniformly
spherical and the broken pieces seem to be missing.

Different from what?

They appear more like the
spheres eroding out of the sedimentary rock at the Opportunity site.

That's why I asked - different from what? Where else on Mars have
you seen spheres - other than the Opportunity site?

So I would speculate the Spirit spheres are the fossilized version being
uncovered by erosion.

Speculate all you want. The dunes came in after the rocks.
What appear to be rocks sitting on the dunes could just as
easily be embedded rocks. Appearences can be deceiving.


And in this pic the shapes appear to be determined by contact
with each other, especially in the upper left. Where a couple
are u-shaped around another.

Which makes them even less likely to be the same as
the spherules at the Oppoutunity site.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...EFF0506P2943M2
M1.JPG

I think this puts a big damper on the idea they formed in
the atmosphere as fallout, but more likely underwater.
The dunes at the Spirit site might be from ancient
wave action, not wind.

Possible, perhaps even likely, but not necessary.
They could have formed under water elsewhere
and have been deposited in that location another way.


These are life forms, I'm more convinced every day.

Nonetheless, they are more likely to turn out to be
tumbled basaltic pebbles at the Spirit site.

"jonathan" wrote in message
...

" George" wrote in message
.. .


Nuts. How old are you, Johnathan?


Perhaps I should be asking you.
The dunes made of spheres at the Spirit
site are clearly ancient, else they wouldn't
have rocks on top.

None of the rocks in the images you presented
are necessarily sitting on top of the dunes.

So the spheres must
have cemented them in place.

It remains to be seen if the dunes are
cemented in place or that they cement
anything else in place.


Nasa picked this site due to the evidence
it was an ancient lake. Have you even
looked at the pics?


Jonathan

s