Mystery material in the Bonneville crater on Mars.

Thursday's NASA news conference is archived he

http://mars.systemsfirst.com/news_archive/index.html

About 43 minutes in is discussed the dark deposits inside the crater.
Dr. John Grant said the dark deposits in the crater were like a
mystery material on the Humphrey rock examined by Spirit. This
material was either glass-like or a weathering product, presumably due
to liquid water, since it was found to have been exposed to small
amounts of liquid water weathering:

Take That Opportunity: Spirit Rover Finds Own Water To Play In
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...er_040305.html

Grant said the dark material in the drift outside Bonneville crater
was not like this, but more like the classic basaltic material.
If this mystery material is due to liquid water weathering, examining
up close would give us a chance to see a large-scale deposit of liquid
water altered minerals at the Gusev site.

Bonneville in Color.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...20040315a.html

The dark mystery material is in the far side crater wall.


Bob Clark