Eiffel Tower on Mars?
(https://scontent.flas1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16708408_1259557884131043_6838143364799197084_n.jpg?oh=fba2ce37d17d8a162a6fca915dc9a993&oe=593AA452)
Well once again the SCALE is the killer :D but I really wish they would provide the image number
I did however find it
(http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00603/mcam/0603ML0025450060301382E01_DXXX.jpg)
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00603/mcam/0603ML0025450060301382E01_DXXX.jpg
"well once again the SCALE is the killer :D "
Yes it is! But, just comparing the "tower" to the area rocks, my guess would put the tower at probably less than 24 inches tall - I said, "guess"!! :) The Rover camera is looking downward from nearby - these bigger items are not cliffs, but ordinary rocks, from very small to a little larger, imo!
(https://image.slidesharecdn.com/briefgeographyofdevilstower-121126113857-phpapp01/95/brief-geography-of-devils-tower-12-638.jpg?cb=1353930030)
http://www.slideshare.net/echo2382/brief-geography-of-devils-tower
(http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/static/photo/1x/Monument-Valley-Erosion-Towers-Pointed-Rocky-Towers-3752.jpg)
http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Monument-Valley-Erosion-Towers-Pointed-Rocky-Towers-3752
You seem to get steep towers on Earth in arid environments (like Mars) where there are softer sediments beneath harder.
I'm most interested in seeing whether the sediments at the bottom of the "tower" are likely to have been deposited by water. They do look at forst glance a lot like some in Derbyshire that were deposited at the bottom of an ocean.
Quote from: Pimander on February 13, 2017, 08:50:28 AM
You seem to get steep towers on Earth in arid environments (like Mars) where there are softer sediments beneath harder.
yes the martian terrain looks so much like the desert out here in death valley, Arizona and nevada that one might think that they filmed it in Death valley :P
Like this picture of Viking lander for example... I could SWEAR that it's in Death valley... but that hill behind the lander sure looks PHOTOSHOPPED Wonder what it is hiding?
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Sagan_Viking.jpg)
QuoteI'm most interested in seeing whether the sediments at the bottom of the "tower" are likely to have been deposited by water. They do look at forst glance a lot like some in Derbyshire that were deposited at the bottom of an ocean.
I agree, but being a geologist and rock and fossil hunter, I am looking for any 'rock' that is out of place. There are many bits on Mars that look like torn up pieces of metal, and some odd shapes that could be part of some ancient machinery long fallen to near dust.
Then there are the fossils :D Ppeople may argue, they may be skeptical, but with over 50 years experience in the field I can spot fossils a mile away :P
One of the best ones I have is this one
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars/Fossils.jpg)
back ta ATS I did three threads to prove a point Two with sensational titles and one serious one.
The two sensational ones got 100's of replies in a few days while the serious ones, though it got 6 applauses from staff, barely had any posts
Why? because the evidence was so good it really couldn't be debunked :P so there were no arguements so no posts
Here is the same picture as above I have high lighted the pieces of interest... skulls of a bird like creature, tubular bones with porous holes, etc. Go to any location on earth (and there are MANY, where fossils are weatheing out of the softer material and you will see a similar site
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Fossil_Field_Detailed.jpg)
The Gobi Desert is such a site. The harder dinosaur bones 'migrate to the surface as the softer looser sand arong them blows away or settles beneth the object, pushing it up. The Gobi is lttered with dinosaur skulls and other part, literally just lying on the surface
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/002.png)(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/004.png)
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/02files/Mars_Images_06.html
So here is an area on earth with fossils embedded
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Barton_Beach.jpg)
One of the points made by several skeptics is that "Fossils don't just lie around on top of the ground..."
This statement is quite false and any fossil hunter will laugh at that comment. The image above is taken from Barton-on-the-Sea, England where the constant action of the water washes the fossils out of the ancient clays of the cliffs... and quite literally they are "just lying around". This despite the thousands of Earthlings hunting them and picking up specimens in a heavily populted area...
The following are bits of dinosaur bones in the Gobi desert
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Gobi_Fossil_001a.jpg)
They are LITERALLY just "lying around'
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Gobi_Fossil_002.jpg)
Guillermo Rougier hunts for early mammal fossil in Mongolia's Gobi Desert
Mars
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/004.png)
Gobi Desert
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Gilmoreteius_a.jpg)
Quote from: Pimander on February 13, 2017, 08:50:28 AM
I'm most interested in seeing whether the sediments at the bottom of the "tower" are likely to have been deposited by water. They do look at forst glance a lot like some in Derbyshire that were deposited at the bottom of an ocean.
You want deposited by water?
How about seashells? Will they do?
:o
::)
The Case for Turritellas Turritella On EarthA single Turritella fossil to show detail of the spiral shape
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Turritella_002a.jpg)
A double set showing the tendency of these fossils to protrude from the host rock as they are eroded out of the stone....
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Turritella_003a.jpg)
Compare these conical spirals to the Martian clippings below... these are found on the surface weathered out of the host rock...
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Turritella_001a.jpg)
Turrittela's on MarsOriginal photo
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Soll1144_Spirit_001_700.jpg)
There are many in this photo. The clipping below is one of the best and clearest examples that I found in the image set. The color version best shows this "fossil" in detail.
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Soll1144_Spirit_001.png)(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Soll1144_Spirit_001_Turritella.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Soll1144_Spirit_001a.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_Mike_001.png)(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_Mike_001a.png)
Another obvious spiral specimen...
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_004.png)(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_004a.png)
Looking just at this one section of the rock, it looks like literally hundreds of these "fossils" in a pile...
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_005.png)
Still more...
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Spirit_Sol_1144/Turritella_006.png)
The host rock in this British specimen looks remarably similar
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Barton_Turitella_a.jpg)
Quote from: zorgon on February 13, 2017, 11:07:30 AM
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Barton_Beach.jpg)
One of the points made by several skeptics is that "Fossils don't just lie around on top of the ground..."
Anyone who says that is just a denier not a sceptic. They also don't have a clue!
I live near Derbyshire Peak District which is largely limestone. There are fossils at the surface everywhere. Limestone is basically marine sediment and lots of it is obviously fossilised marine fauna. Anywhere limestone is exposed there is fossils. If there were oceans on Mars and life there will be fossils.
(https://i1.wp.com/www.nickcook.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fragmented-crinoid-brachiopod.jpg)
(http://www.peakscan.freeuk.com/39fed9f0.jpg)
The above reminds me of something I saw in a Mars picture.
I did a Geology A Level (alongside chemistry and biology) before I decided to move towards biosciences. Loads of fieldwork and there were fossils on the surface.
Well then you should be able to 'sea' what I see :P in this picture
This is a detailed closeup of the infamous face on Mars... Let's forget that it roughly looks like a face from a distance in an old blurry first photo
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars/face_E03-00824_proc.gif)
Full size here
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/extended_may2001/face/face_E03-00824_proc_50perc.gif
Look at it from a geologists point of view... it is as plain as the nose on your face. It is an ISLAND that was once surrounded by an Ancient Sea
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars/Detail_Island.jpg)
Opportunity Rover Digs for Fossils
Sol 30 to Sol 33
The "Rotelli" Fossils
This time it is actually from NASA :P No denial allowed :D
One of the most famous anomalies talked about is the "Rotelli" fossil. It was found in these images and is one of the best case samples for life on Mars to date. It was called "rotelli" because of its shape, looking like rotelli pasta on Earth.
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/23131827.jpg)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_004a.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_004b.png)
According to NASA
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg)
A close-up of the Last Chance rock after it was RAT-treated reveals a tiny spiral-like object (red arrow), likened to curved macaroni, set in a texture that itself is "mysterious". The object may be a cutting artifact of the abrasion tool or it may be a natural, intrinsic component of the rock. Among speculatiions: it is a fossilized organism, but that view is quite tentative. However, some "optimists" are already claiming to see 'nebulous' evidence of other life forms. Visit this MER fossils website for a pictorial summary of such conjectures.
SOURCE: NASA (http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect19/Sect19_13b.html)
Some of the images containing the 'fossils' are listed below. Oportunity spent several days drilling in this area. Above I have highlighted several interesting areas as well as two drill marks.
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/More_001.png)
1M130859833EFF0454P2959M2M1.JPG
1M131117213EFF0454P2953M2M1.JPG
1M131117272EFF0454P2953M2M1.JPG
1M131117332EFF0454P2953M2M1.JPG
NASA Opportunity Rover Sol 30 Microscopic Imager
NASA Opportunity Rover Sol 33 Microscopic Imager
There are many other samples that we found in these images and a few are highlighted below... a "Rotelli" and a "Turritella"....
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_005a.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_005b.png)
Three very good specimens of "Turritella"....
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_002a.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_002b.png)
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Rotelli/Clip_002d.png)
Spirit Rover
Gusev Crater Sol 386
Lichen Like Fossil
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Lichen/002a.jpg)
Fossil Flower - Earth
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Lichen/003a.jpg)
Live Lichen - Earth
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Lichen/001.jpg)
Credit: NASA / JPL / USGS
This one made main stream media :D
Rovers spot strange shapes on Mars
Features were left behind by tools ... or were they?
MSNBC
Date: Feb 14, 2005
By Leonard David
Excerpt:
A case in point: During Spirit's recent run in the Columbia Hills, the robot used its arm-mounted devices to poke and probe a particular Martian rock. One piece of hardware — the Rock Abrasion Tool, known better as the RAT — was on hand to expose fresh Martian rock.
The RAT utilizes a single diamond matrix wheel to scrape the rock surface. It does this ever so slightly and progressively to achieve a wanted depth. The abraded surface is actively swept clean by a brush to prepare it for scientific examinations.
Once the rock was worked over, Spirit's Microscopic Imager went in for close-up looks at the results. And within the images, an odd feature could be seen, seemingly a pattern of something more biological than just rock.
SOURCE: MSNBC
Comments:
"The first impression I got — based on the morphology alone — was how similar it looked to a common terrestrial foliose lichen. On Mars, however, as we all have learned from past experience, looks can be deceiving." - Barry DiGregorio, a research associate for the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology in the United Kingdom.
original photo
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Lichen/2M160631572EFFA2K1P2936M2M1.JPG)
2M160631572EFFA2K1P2936M2M1
Fossil Corals
Cyclomedusa on Earth
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Cyclomedusa_800.png)
Cyclomedusa is a circular fossil of the Ediacaran biota; it has a circular bump in the middle and as many as five circular growth ridges around it. Many specimens are small, but specimens in excess of 20cm are known. The concentric disks are not necessarily circular, especially when adjacent individuals interfere with each other's growth. Many radial segment lines — somewhat pineapple-like — extend across the outer disks. A few specimens show what might be a stem extending from the center in some direction or other.
Opportunity Rover
Endurance Crater Sol 125
Corals?
I just noticed I never finished detailing this one yet...
Microscopic Imager Non-linearized Full frame EDR acquired on Sol 125 of Opportunity's mission to Meridiani Planum at approximately at approximately 12:58:35 Mars local solar time, Microscopic Imager dust cover commanded to be OPEN. NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS
Concentric circular arcs from Opportunity Sol 125 outside of Endurance Crater. About 2 mm in diameter. This one did not have the RAT abrasion of the surface, so the pattern is in the rock.
Here is the original image
(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/04images/Mars4/Fossils/Lichen/1m139283564eff2829p2976m2m1.jpg)
SOURCE: NASA Opportunity Rover Data: 1M139283564EFF2829P2976M2M1.jpg (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m/125/1M139283564EFF2829P2976M2M1.HTML)
I agree. The "face" looks exactly like an ancient island. I can't think of anything else that would cause that formation.
The rotelli look like fossils for sure and, again, I can't think of anything other than fossils that look like that on Earth. I also recognise the lichens. 8)
I am convinced it is very likely that there was life on Mars. I also think it is likely that if life has existed on Mars then extremophiles will still be there. Life seems to be highly persistent and resistant to environmental changes.
Everywhere we have looked on Earth (apart from EXTREMELY high temperatures) we find life. Everywhere. Even in low Earth orbit life has survived.
I'd love to get funding to work on a thesis about this. Watch this space in the next few years. ;)