Fossil life on Mars?

Did we just discover fossil evidence of life on Mars? Perhaps so -- in the
latest photos that the Martian rover "Opportunity" has sent back. These
microscopic photos show that the rocks have a layered structure, probably
formed with the aid of water (perhaps annual freeze thaw build up?) with
small spherical nodes occasionally appearing in between the layers. See:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html .

Could these small spheres be nodules, possibly enriched in iron (hematite),
that were created by Martian bacteria eons ago? These may be analogous to
the manganese nodules formed by bacteria on the floor of the ocean on Earth.
JPL has a paper discussing this possibility at:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/...onf99/6133.pdf .

NASA will understandably be conservative at making any sort of claims here,
but I'm surprised that the media have not picked up on this idea yet.

Steve Zweig

Do manganese nodules on earth have any tendency to split into two
near-exact hemispheres?

The apparent fracture plane is one characteristic of these Martian
spherical objects that most interests me, since it does not appear to
fit easily with current suggested models for their formation.

Rollo


"Steve Zweig" wrote in message news:dWDWb.12056$uV3.30141@attbi_s51...
Did we just discover fossil evidence of life on Mars? Perhaps so -- in the
latest photos that the Martian rover "Opportunity" has sent back. These
microscopic photos show that the rocks have a layered structure, probably
formed with the aid of water (perhaps annual freeze thaw build up?) with
small spherical nodes occasionally appearing in between the layers. See:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html .

Could these small spheres be nodules, possibly enriched in iron (hematite),
that were created by Martian bacteria eons ago? These may be analogous to
the manganese nodules formed by bacteria on the floor of the ocean on Earth.
JPL has a paper discussing this possibility at:
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/...onf99/6133.pdf .

NASA will understandably be conservative at making any sort of claims here,
but I'm surprised that the media have not picked up on this idea yet.

Steve Zweig