Look What Mars Rover Curiosity Found.....Spheres!

Much like the countless fields of spherical blueberries
found by the Opportunity rover at Meridiani, the
new Curiosity Rover at Hale Crater just stumbled
into a dune, coated by a layer of....guess what?


Opportunity Rover at Meridiani
Navigation Camera
Sol 152
http://areo.info/mer/opportunity/152...5L7L7.jpg.html


MSL Curiosity Hand Lens Imager
Sol 58
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-ima...000E1_DXXX.jpg

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-ima...000E1_DXXX.jpg

Sol 60
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime...00E1_DXXX&s=65

Sol 66
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime...01E1_DXXX&s=66

Sol 67
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime...00E1_DXXX&s=67


Left Navigation Camera
Sol 66
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multime...AM00326M_&s=66


MSL All Raw Images
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/

The candy wrapper is easy to explain. The Russians already sent
someone there and never bothered to tell anyone about it.

As for the soil, it looks just like that found in any median strip in
Yuma.


Bret Cahill

"Bret Cahill" wrote in message
...
The candy wrapper is easy to explain. The Russians already sent
someone there and never bothered to tell anyone about it.

As for the soil, it looks just like that found in any median strip in
Yuma.


Funny you should say that....


Microphytic Soil Crusts and Desert Ecosystems


Communities of micro-organisms create crusts on soils throughout semi-arid
and arid regions of the world. These microphytic (also called cryptogamic)
crusts are formed when all or some of a diverse array of photosynthetic
cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), fungi, bacteria, lichens and mosses, bind
together with inorganic particles in the first few millimeters of a soil.

Microphytic crusts are dominant feature in desert soils; they are estimated
to represent approximately 70% of desert soil biomass world wide
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=30286




An Introduction to Biological Soil Crusts

In more arid regions, vegetative cover is generally sparse. Open spaces are
usually covered by biological soil crusts, a highly specialized community of
cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens (Figure 1).

Biological soil crusts are commonly found in semiarid and arid environments
throughout the world. Areas in the United States where crusts are a
prominent feature of the landscape include the Great Basin, Colorado
Plateau, Sonoran Desert, and the inner Columbia Basin. Crusts are also found
in agricultural areas, native prairies, and Alaska (Figure 2). Outside the
United States, crusts have been studied in the Antarctic, Australia, and
Israel, among other locations. In fact, microbiotic crusts have been found
on all continents and in most habitats, leaving few areas crust-free.

What's the right name?

Biological soil crusts are also known as cryptogamic, microbiotic,
cryptobiotic, and microphytic crusts, leading to some confusion. The names
are all meant to indicate common features of the organisms that compose the
crusts. The most inclusive term is probably biological soil crust, as this
distinguishes them from physical crusts without limiting the crust
components to plants. Whatever name used, there remains an important
distinction between these formations and physical or chemical crusts.

Biological soil crusts are formed by living organisms and their by-products,
creating a crust of soil particles bound together by organic materials.

Chemical and physical crusts are inorganic features such as a salt crust or
platy surface crust, often formed by trampling.
http://www.soilcrust.org/crust101.htm




Bret Cahill

The candy wrapper is easy to explain. *The Russians already sent
someone there and never bothered to tell anyone about it.

As for the soil, it looks just like that found in any median strip in
Yuma.

Funny you should say that....

Microphytic Soil Crusts and Desert Ecosystems

Communities of micro-organisms create crusts on soils throughout semi-arid
and arid regions of the world. These microphytic (also called cryptogamic)
crusts are formed when all or some of a diverse array of photosynthetic
cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), fungi, bacteria, lichens and mosses, bind
together with inorganic particles in the first few millimeters of a soil.

Microphytic crusts are dominant feature in desert soils; they are estimated
to represent approximately 70% of desert soil biomass world widehttp://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=30286

An Introduction to Biological Soil Crusts

In more arid regions, vegetative cover is generally sparse. Open spaces are
usually covered by biological soil crusts, a highly specialized community of
cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens (Figure 1).

Biological soil crusts are commonly found in semiarid and arid environments
throughout the world. Areas in the United States where crusts are a
prominent feature of the landscape include the Great Basin, Colorado
Plateau, Sonoran Desert, and the inner Columbia Basin. Crusts are also found
in agricultural areas, native prairies, and Alaska (Figure 2). Outside the
United States, crusts have been studied in the Antarctic, Australia, and
Israel, among other locations. In fact, microbiotic crusts have been found
on all continents and in most habitats, leaving few areas crust-free.

What's the right name?

Biological soil crusts are also known as cryptogamic, microbiotic,
cryptobiotic, and microphytic crusts, leading to some confusion. The names
are all meant to indicate common features of the organisms that compose the
crusts. The most inclusive term is probably biological soil crust, as this
distinguishes them from physical crusts without limiting the crust
components to plants. Whatever name used, there remains an important
distinction between these formations and physical or chemical crusts.

Biological soil crusts are formed by living organisms and their by-products,
creating a crust of soil particles bound together by organic materials.

Chemical and physical crusts are inorganic features such as a salt crust or
platy surface crust, often formed by trampling.http://www.soilcrust.org/crust101.htm

Once the desert "pavement" is gone the resulting dust storms are very
destructive to machinery as well as lungs.

Tucson has very few dust storms. Sen. Feinstein probably saw _one_
dust storm and then and there decided to make the Mojave a national
park.


Bret Cahill

"Bret Cahill" wrote in message
...

Once the desert "pavement" is gone the resulting dust storms are very
destructive to machinery as well as lungs.

Tucson has very few dust storms. Sen. Feinstein probably saw _one_
dust storm and then and there decided to make the Mojave a national
park.


That leads to another interesting question, Mars has dust storms
too, and dust devils and so on. We're looking at a delicate dune
made of soft clay-like soil, crusted over with a thin layer of very small
pebbles. If the dune has a crust, it can't be migrating around like
just any sand dune. How long would you expect that crusted dune
to last on Mars? Or how long would it take for that crust to form?

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-ima...CAM00326M_.JPG


Bret Cahill