The color and shape of the rock in that first image look more like fragments of the rock type in Lindbergh Mound and the Lewis and Clark targets that Opportunity studied just before entering Marathon Valley proper. Maybe just a piece of float?

More than likely.

Just thought I would 'put it out there' and see what came back, ( I'm no geologist, as has just been shown)

I ran dburts' reply through a language translation program and it ran away and started whimpering behind the sofa!!

Sorry about that, but "float" is also a geological word for a loose piece of rock. Unless you can point to an outcrop of that same type of rock higher up a slope, the only logical way to get a loose rock (too big for the wind to pick up) emplaced on the surface of Mars today is to toss or bounce it in from somewhere else, as via a meteorite impact (violent earthquakes and nearby explosive volcanic eruptions being largely lacking at present). So "just a piece of float" would, if you think about it, probably have just about the same meaning as what I said much less succinctly.
dburt

It's like a chunk of raw potato sitting in a landscape of soggy potato pancakes.

Knudsen Ridge with similar outcrops is a potential contender as the source. A heavily tortured false colour image of the float seems to imply that it is near similar fragments and as the float does not seem to have shattered a local source seems likely.

An effective dust trap sol4305 xeye/anag:
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Another sloping Martian 'puddle'(!) - nice anaglyph.

Some nice clouds have been visible in the front hazcams.

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...BBP1212L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...C5P1212L0M1.JPG
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...C5P1212L0M1.JPG

Another clue to some ideas for future plans from the latest PS update:

Well going south is logical. The rover arrived from the west and went down from north to Marathon, in the east there's mostly sand.
So a long term goal might be Iazu crater, located in some sort of plateau, possibly ejecta 'splash' from the impact.
Whatever it is it will be a new type of terrain.
Even though it do look interesting, the question is if they would risk wearing out the rovers bearings which already have shown some problems.
This would be as far as the drive from Victoria crater, so my speculation might be off the mark here.

Edit: Some nice images taken for the area already, though the caption for this image, mention the possibility of the rover ever going there with quite some caution.

This is my Oppy panorama (from sol 4267 to 4294)

What looks like it may be a DD on the horizon:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol4311
It's visible in both L and R frames. It's been very rare to see DD's at Meridiani.

Nice observation

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 4307-4309.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

good eye, fredk!

According to my notes - which might not be complete - that is the first one seen since sol 3514, a bit more than a Mars year ago.

Phil

Seems like we have waited a long time for a full panorama in this area. Thanks, Jan! Here is a roughly reprojected version to give a sense of what the area looks like in map form. Eli's color panorama was taken nearby but not in exactly the same spot.

Phil

Click to view attachment

I agree 3514 was the last time we saw what clearly looked like a DD. Before that only 3182 and 2301 as far as I know.

Of course it can be hard to decide what's a DD and what's a gust sometimes. This latest sighting on 4311 shows no sign of continuing up into the sky, so it may just be an intense gust.

excavation hole anaglyphs sol4313 navcam and sol4315 pancam
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Unless I missed it here, there was a brief update a few weeks back on Crumpler's blog (note the URL has changed) that illustrates Oppy's angle in the debris chute.

A rather interesting amount of deposited sand has flowed down the rear solar panel as a direct result of the high tilt. Looks like this event happened between 4311-4312 (March 10-11)

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...EFP1990L0M1.JPG

It seemed to start on Sol 4310.

http://www.midnightplanets.com/web/MERB/im...EP2104L6M1.html

I tried to make a Pancam anaglyph of the recent excavations, there was a lot of image transforming to do so some bits are easier to view than others.



Click to view attachment

and who could have guessed Oppy having its own RSL phenomena of sorts..

it looks like someone needs to make an animated GIF of it starting with a little spillage first seen sol4302 then sol4305 then sol4308 then sol4310 breaking loose sol4312
i wonder if those dates help settle whether the slippage owes more to slope angle or to the vibration induced by wheel gouging

Thanks for the links, that made composing the GIF easy. (Click to embiggen)

The downward movement is easy to understand, but how would this material get onto the rover deck in the first place?

Here are two false color animations.





The material is built up over the years from the deposition of dust settling onto the panels that than falls into lower areas on the deck and gets trapped.

That may be, but the material looks quite different from the reddish dust. It is dark in color and appears to consist of coarser grains. Has it been altered in some way?

During the years of Opportunity's travels both the ubiquitous red dust and larger particles of regolith have been deposited on the rover. The red dust settles from the atmosphere in still conditions and is readily winnowed by wind gusts or dust devils and continues on its way. However heavier particles, lofted in the stronger wind events would impact the rover structure and be deposited in the dust traps on the rover deck. The 30 degree tilt and vibration has released some of it in a fascinating cascade, but there was no alteration on the rover deck if that is your question.

The dust must have a baby powder like consistency and not dust like we think of in the desert.

Ms Opportunity just got a little put out by Curiosity getting so much attention with Namib Dune. So with around 30 degrees slope being the angle of yield and just a hint of vibration, she turned her rear solar panel into a stoss slope. Pay more attention to her guys or who knows what will happen next.

Does anybody know how far the schiaperilli land will be from our MER rover? I heard in our planetary society meeting last week it would be less than a days hike. From the Mets original landing. What would be the chances we could image it's descent.

If anybody has specifics

A day's hike? Maybe, if you have a pair of Seven League Boots! Otherwise, much further than that. But you should check out the Exomars thread for information on this topic.

Phil

Opportunity's and Schiaparelli's landing ellipses seem to cover the same ground... DECA should hopefully image some MER hardware...

Here is a comparison of old and new ExoMars ellipses and Opportunity's ellipse (as shown in a Malin Space Science Systems release pre-landing). There are similarities but the ExoMars ellipse is bigger.

Phil

Click to view attachment

Special for Serpens,

the Navcam L0 view on Sol 4323-4324.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

Excellent, Jan - here is a roughly map-like reprojection of it to show the pattern of outcrops around this part of the valley.

Phil

Click to view attachment

Almost seems as if they'd like Oppy to swing by and say hello...

Guess our guy was wrong but it is pretty close. It would be cool...I wrote a short sci-fi novel in college ...one of the sub plots had a NASA rover check the fate of the Soviet mars 3. Only to discover the Martian finished repairing and were about to.send it back as a biological weapon. The idea is neat

Well, like Squyres said after Heat Shield Rock, this is the part of Mars where large metal objects fall from the sky...

The Navcam L view on Sol 4325.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

A couple of mosaics of the floor of Marathon Valley

4325


4327

Land shark to the left:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol4329
We've encountered them before. They usually don't give any trouble if we keep our distance and avoid eye contact.

The Navcam L0 view on Sol 4329.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

and the view on Sol 4330.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

By far the best Oppy DD ever!
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol4332

Average of L and R frames at 2x:
Click to view attachment
This is as spectacular as the better Spirit DD's.

Stunning! Tis the season, I guess, so we can hope for a few more. Maybe some dedicated DD surveys as time permits...

Phil

The Navcam L0 Panoramic view, with DD, on Sol 4332.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment

and the complete Panoramic view taken on Sol 4330-4332.

Jan van Driel

Click to view attachment