The Curiosity rover spotted something very interesting this week on the surface of Mars and photographed it with its equipment. At first glance it looks like a tiny flower, which could possibly have an organic nature. However, the Curiosity team confirmed that it is a mineral formation.
So these are transgenic crystalline complexes, which redistribute their minerals to produce three-dimensional crystalline complexes like this. The team has again observed similar salt structures at other sites.
The study of previous findings showed that the mineral complexes were originally embedded in a rock. The rock eroded and disappeared, while the complexes were resistant to erosion, leaving behind these fragile and complex formations.
The group named the specific “flower” Blackthorn Salt or Thorny Salt and photographed it with the MAHLI rover camera which offers very close information.
(1/3) Your Friday moment of zen: A beautiful new microscopic image from @MarsCuriosity shows teeny, tiny delicate structures that formed by mineral precipitating from water.
(Penny approximately for scale added me) https://t.co/cs7t11BWAj pic.twitter.com/AU20LjY5pQ
– Abigail Fraeman (@abbyfrae) February 26, 2022
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