Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.

From: Robert Clark (rgregoryclark_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 07/07/04

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    ================================================================
    From: Greg Ruo (la1234uk@yahoo.co.uk)
    Subject: filaments on "bounce" rock
    Newsgroups: sci.astro.research
    Date: 2004-04-12 01:49:02 PST
     
    Dear All,

    Please have a look at this picture from the Rover Opportunity on Mars.
    http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m/069/1M134320496EFF08AYP2956M2M1.JPG

    Can you see filamentous structures running on the surface of the rock
    ? Located mainly on the center/lower right?
    Well... that stuff on earth would look pretty biogenic to me.

    Somebody out there has a more "reasonable" explanation for those...?

    Greg Ruo
    ================================================================

     The filaments Greg refers to here may satisfy a criterion that MER
    science team member Andrew Knoll proposes as a visual signature of
    life:

    Could Opportunity Find Life on Mars?
    "The other thing, which I feel even more strongly about, is that many
    times, where there are microbial populations, they form these
    beautiful groups of filaments that just string out across the surface.
    They almost look like the mane of a horse. Now the great thing is
    that, when minerals are deposited in these environments, they actually
    nucleate on these strings of filaments, and you get beautiful
    sedimentary textures that, again, look like the mane of a horse."
    "You can see them in Yellowstone Park, in both siliceous and
    carbonate-precipitating strings. If you go to places like Mammoth
    Springs, you can see it happening today. And if you hike into the
    hinterland, you can see ancient examples of that, beautiful signatures
    preserved in the rock.
    "In Rio Tinto, you can see iron depositing on these filaments; and in
    the 2 million year old terraces, you can see these filamentous iron
    textures. And there, again, I know of no process other than biology
    that could form those. So that's truly something to keep your eyes out
    for whenever you're looking at a precipitated rock on Mars."
    http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=820

     Compare the filamentous threads in the Opportunity image Greg
    suggests to the filaments in Fig. 7 here:

    Highly Ordered Vertical Structure of Synechococcus Populations within
    the One-Millimeter-Thick Photic Zone of a Hot Spring Cyanobacterial
    Mat.
    Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1038-1049, Vol.
    66, No. 3
    http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/66/3/1038

    in Fig. 3b here:

    Microbial Composition of Near-Boiling Silica-Depositing Thermal
    Springs throughout Yellowstone National Park.
    Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2002, p. 5123-5135,
    Vol. 68, No. 10
    http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/68/10/5123

    and in Figs. 1,2,3 here:

    EXOPALEONTOLOGICAL SEARCH STRATEGY FOR MARS EXPLORATION: A CASE
    FOR SILICEOUS EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS.
    Lunar and Planetary Science XXVIII 1858.PDF
    http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc97/pdf/1858.PDF

     
     Such filamentous structures are also discussed here:

    SILICEOUS SHRUBS IN YELLOWSTONE'S HOT SPRINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR
    EXOBIOLOGICAL
    INVESTIGATIONS.
    "Perhaps the most revealing perspective of siliceous
    shrubs can be gleaned from 3D microscopy.
    Shrubs consist of dense "tangles" of filamentous microbial
    remains and associated polymeric substances in
    various stages of silicification. These tangles of microbial
    material are the framework of the siliceous
    shrub. Where silicification is readily apparent, silica
    appears to form regular, isopachous coats around the
    filament, i.e., evidence for subaqueous precipitation of
    the silica. Silica is also associated with some of the
    external polymeric substances (mucilage) that surrounds
    the microbial community."
    http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2003/pdf/1091.pdf

     Incidentally, in the Opportunity image Greg cites, in the upper, left
    part of the image there might also be an example of the single,
    individual strands that were also speculated to be biological in
    origin (these have clearly a different appearance than the dense,
    tangled filaments Greg is speaking about though.)
     These single, individual strands have been attributed by NASA
    scientists to Vectran threads from the airbags:

    Biology Hanging By A Thread?
    "Placing Vectran threads against the backdrop of simulated Mars soil
    gave the team a first view of what the microscopic imager might have
    seen.
    "To recreate similar conditions, the team still needed to know exactly
    where the rover was on Sol 19. They also wanted to know how its
    robotic arm turret was positioned for such an extended camera view.
    "The rover's navigation and front hazard avoidance cameras narrowed
    down their choices to the rim of Eagle Crater. Two airbag marks could
    be seen nearby. Suddenly two lines of forensic evidence came together:
    a location near bounce marks and a recreated microscopic scene on
    Earth with Vectran threads.
    "The threads in Pasadena's sandbox closely resembled what had first
    surprised scientists nearly a month earlier at Eagle Crater on Mars."
    http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=926&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

        Bob Clark

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    Relevant Pages

    • Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.
      ... Please have a look at this picture from the Rover Opportunity on Mars. ... Can you see filamentous structures running on the surface of the rock ... The filaments Greg refers to here may satisfy a criterion that MER ... Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1038-1049, Vol. ...
      (sci.geo.geology)
    • Re: Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.
      ... If you look at the "Bounce" rock picture at the centre of all this ... what I think being claimed as filaments, ... Mars Fossils, Pseudofossils and Problematica ... > "Placing Vectran threads against the backdrop of simulated Mars soil ...
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    • Re: Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.
      ... If you look at the "Bounce" rock picture at the centre of all this ... what I think being claimed as filaments, ... Mars Fossils, Pseudofossils and Problematica ... > "Placing Vectran threads against the backdrop of simulated Mars soil ...
      (sci.astro)
    • Re: Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.
      ... > Please have a look at this picture from the Rover Opportunity on Mars. ... > Greg Ruo ... > The filaments Greg refers to here may satisfy a criterion that MER ... > "Placing Vectran threads against the backdrop of simulated Mars soil ...
      (sci.geo.geology)
    • Re: Re - filaments on "bounce" rock.
      ... > Please have a look at this picture from the Rover Opportunity on Mars. ... > Greg Ruo ... > The filaments Greg refers to here may satisfy a criterion that MER ... > "Placing Vectran threads against the backdrop of simulated Mars soil ...
      (sci.astro)
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