Charlie, Rosie and List, The science team at JPL had left the idea that the outcrops are sedimentary sandstones or conglomerates, as the layers are too fine. They have two theories for the layered material:
1)Volcanic ash or 2)Windblown, very fine particles. Btw, it was found that the layered material contained 2-3 times more sulphur than what have been measured elsewhere in the crater. That was the latest results from the mini-TES. They had no data from the 'round guys' as those were making up only a couple of % of the material. Oolites was also left out as an explanation, because what is observed is a few round stones here and there between the layers, whereas oolites are collections of a a large numbers of such particles - if I got that right from the press briefing... Concerning the round stones coming from melted volcanic or impact melted material - it's a bit troubling that they are so round, and only round! Why aren't they shaped like the tektites? Could the answer to that be that the atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than Earths? On the other hand, if they were made far back in the past, Mars' atmosphere most probably was much thicker... Time will telll... Bjørn Sørheim At 04:27 14.02.04 -0500, you wrote: >Rosie, >Fantastic, and glad you replied. I was in Utah last year, and toured the >Zion national park as well as Bryce and Escelante in the staircase. If >you take the lower trails in Zion, you come across giant pieces of >sandstone that have fallen down from the top peaks that are loaded with >these "Moqui marbles. I even collected some (probably not legally). They >are embedded in the sandstone and weather out in giant surface areas >that are completely pebbled with these spherules. Amazing... and there >are places on the web which talk about these and suggest that they are >related to a probable impact area in Escalante (where most are said to >have been found) ... I get that from researching what you just posted. >Thanks for the insight! I have pictures of the surface of the sandstone >slabs that are pebbled with these if anyone is interested. Thanks - > >CharlyV > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rosemary >Hackney >Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 8:48 PM >To: Charles Viau; 'Bjørn Sørheim'; [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] What are those blueberries on Mars? > >Moqui marbles???? > >Rosie ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list