Cue for some informed speculation about Spirit of St Louis. I notice Larry Crumpler avoided calling it a crater, using the word 'feature' instead. So if it's not a crater, what could it be? Is the rockpile inside it a useful clue or a red herring? Is the 'feature' related in any way to the existence of Marathon Valley or the clay minerals therein? Any thoughts?

im hoping to hear some informed speculation as well. Its quite a peculiar sentinel indeed, our harbinger of deepening puzzles ahead as we descend into the valley..

..as for my own mal-informed perspective, i was holding out hopeful for a 'Home Plate' sort of Endeavor impact remnant heat vent interpretation, though that prospect seems dwindling, so now seems (especially as dinner time approaches and i go home to my own plate), more like a complex cobble souper-salad bowl, countless epochs in the making, an impact crater forming a simple soup bowl is subjected to one or more sequences of being buried in minestrone slurry and further compacted to stew, then warped and deformed, pressed and dried, then finally exhumed whilst topped with crumbling ejecta crutons, a scattering of Bac-o-Bits with a sizeable splotch of Parmesean on the side. absoutely deliciuous Ant103's pano above Yum yum eat em up!

Quote: A come back ? I don't know. From time to time I enjoy doing some Postcards like this Sol 3973 pancam panoramic filled with a little bit of sky.

Bless you, Damia. What an incredible view!

The large pile and adjacent debris field seem associated and off the apparent axis of Spirit of St Louis. This would seem to imply a late ejecta deposit not connected with the original formation. If the fracture represents the very bottom of a large transient crater surrounded by brecciated target rock and if, as Eutectic posited in post #482 on 28 March, this was a reasonably large, low angle impact then it could have created fractures and weaknesses that caused preferential erosion resulting in Marathon Valley.

just one week left to sol4000! for now here's a pleasing little rock collection sol3993 rotated CCW for stereo...
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

'left side' (mi open minloss5 DNTH2500 veryhigh) mosaic
Click to view attachment

Maybe time for a "Marathon Valley" topic?

ADMIN: Sure. Soon. When Oppy gets there

That's an amusing pattern of sand grains on the partially covered pebble on the bottom right.

It's like watching pebbles on an earthly beach!

its like a little neatly-spaced rope of sand placed in a symmetric arc (CCW for stereo).
Click to view attachment

Do you see Jason Voorheese's machete around as well?

Sol 4004 navcam anaglyph view of Lindbergh:
Click to view attachment

thats a really nice view, went ahead and did the pano as well
Click to view attachment

Mmm, choc-coated rocks

Click to view attachment


Mars Bar?! Ducks. Runs.

Well, that's new. Did Oppy somehow run over it? Looks a little big for that, but not sure of the actual scale.

No, Oppy didn't run over these rocks. Anyway, they appear too massive for Oppy to be able to break them.

Sol 4004 Navcam L0 view.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

Sol 4005 pancam anaglyph of Lindbergh:
Click to view attachment

And moving a bit closer (navcam view):
Click to view attachment

(Sorry, can't seem to be able to put both images in the same post.)

Looks like it fell out of the sky fast enough to smash into many pieces, but not fast enough to obliterate itself and form a crater. Possible ejecta from an impact far away?

Alternative hypothesis: volcanic ejecta!

Ah...context!

Very strange. I'd ordinarily guess that this might be a stony meteorite fall based on the dark coating of individual rocks, but as SFJCody noted it didn't fall fast enough...plus the individual meteorites would presumably be in a strewn field, not all clustered together like this.

Instead, it looks like these rocks acquired the coating during a wetter era & recently got busted up by something, though it's hard to imagine what that 'something' might be. Leaning towards SFJCody's ejecta hypothesis.

So Lindbergh is some kind of massive, erosionally-resistant rock, possibly light in color with dark coatings. Conversely, the interior of Lindbergh rocks could be dark and the light tone could be a coating, but I don't think so because the light areas seem to be recessed. If it's an ejecta block, its location in the Spirit of St. Louis feature would likely be coincidental. I hope the Lindbergh rocks get a visit; just a few MI pictures could be instructive. Someone suggested a possible hydrothermal origin; it's not too hard to imagine the Spirit of St. Louis as a pond with Lindbergh as a vent. Probably not...but worth a look. Lindbergh reminds me a little of the travertine edifices in Thermopolis, Wyoming:

http://csmsgeologypost.blogspot.com/2011/0...mopolis-wy.html

I don't think so. The summit of Lindbergh is obviously fractured but there's no sign of a light interior. The place remains a conundrum.

Cleaned up version of Phobos setting in the east and passing into shadow, evening of sol 3998:
Click to view attachment

Lindbergh Panorama. Navcam Left. Sol 4006



Click image for full resolution.

The way the bright highlights are distibuted among these dark rocks gives me the impression that there is a mica-like material being wafted about by the breeze and settling on favourable surfaces.

mmm chocorock, presenting Oppy a share of half an eclair, since its there..... also, the middle of Lindbergh spire does mimic an appearance as if having been pulverized into a light dust recently.. almost as if a boulder finally teetered and rolled down wreaking havoc churning up long-hidden soils, though i see no other evidence or tracks to reveal such an event, yes probably just depositional.
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Some anaglyphs of the coconut-rocks

Thank you eliBonora : very nice

From the latest PS update, it sounds like the plan is to head to Le Bourget after Lindbergh, and then into Marathon for June:

I've been experimenting with a quick reprojection of opposite-pointing post-drive hazcam views to get a quick location for plotting on the map. A full panorama is always better but this gives pretty good results.

Phil

Click to view attachment

Sol 4011 anaglyph view of Lindbergh:
Click to view attachment

Unfortunately, the right pancam of the leftmost part of the mound is incomplete. I'll try to complete the anaglyph when the whole image is down.

Two L2,5,7 views of Lindbergh from Sol 4011


Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

DOHHH!!!




Click to view attachment

Like nothing we've seen before...

My vision of Sol 4011 images... Enjoy
Click to view attachment

The black and white images sure made it look like these rock (or many of them) had a black surface layer and a white (or light) center. The color images suggest a different story. The big rocks are often fractured, but usually the same color and texture throughout. Some faces get preferentially coated with the orange dust. Right above the words Cornell-University in the credits is what looks like the remains of a crumbling soft orange rock. The orange dust from it seems to strongly coat nearby rocks. Reminds me of cinnabar or mercury sulfide pigmented soils I saw visiting a beautiful town near Avignon France. Any chance this orange pigment is something more exotic than the simple reddish iron oxide dust seen everywhere on Mars?

Some our latest of Oppy sol 4011:



anaglyph

Sol 4014:

Click to view attachment

never get tired of the vistas here sol4014, it will be sad to leave this place despite the smectacles to come..
Click to view attachment

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 4016.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

Well, if this doesn't get the crackpots going, I don't know what will !




Click to view attachment



It must have crashed, then split apart, leaving the aliens internal organs in a heap just behind that piece of what looks like the charred outer hull!!

So fun that an old rover is still finding new and bizarre types of rocks

I thought it was a lost Curiosity's weel but I then realize we where on the other side of the planet.

now we understand the 'lost-time' between sols 4016-->4020 [below includes pre-abduction sol4014 view]
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

This is a reprojection of Jan's sol 4016 panorama. I hope we get a full pan later.

Phil

Click to view attachment

I don't recall seeing little "shavings" like those visible in the 4023 MIs - I'm curious if the geo folk have any suggestions for what may cause them? Here's a cross-eyed stereo view:
Click to view attachment
Here's the pancam context (the MI field is just below centre):
http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/p/4...BJP2509L2M1.JPG
And navcam (upper right):
http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/n/4...B8P1982R0M1.JPG

I am grateful that rover images are posted on the Web for the public to see but it's frustrating at the same time to the lack of scientific info as to what the findings are regarding these rocks at this location. Perhaps it reflects the fact that the science community has not made up its mind yet about these findings?

Dude, the pictures just arrived on Earth. We often see them before the scientists do. Have some patience!

Fredk: I agree with you that those "shavings" don't look like something I've seen before. Very odd.