John Klein Section of Gale Crater

This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The rover's right Mast Camera (Mastcam), equipped with a telephoto lens, was about 16 feet (5 meters) away from the site when it recorded this mosaic's component images, between 3:10 and 3:33 in the afternoon of the 153rd Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (January 10, 2013).

The area is shot full of fractures and veins, with the intervening rock also containing concretions, which are small spherical concentrations of minerals.The scale bar on the left image is 19.7 inches (50 centimeters) long. On the annotated version, three boxes, each about 4 inches (10 centimeters) across, designate enlargements on the right that illustrate attributes of the area.

Enlargement A shows a high concentration of ridge-like veins protruding above the surface. Some of the veins have two walls and an eroded interior. Enlargement B shows that in some portions of this feature, there is a horizontal discontinuity a few centimeters or inches beneath the surface. The discontinuity may be a bed, a fracture, or potentially a horizontal vein. Enlargement C shows a hole developed in the sand that overlies a fracture, implying infiltration of sand down into the fracture system.

The image has been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Note: For more information, see PIA16568: Diversity in Vicinity of Curiosity's First Drilling Target and PIA16702: Neighborhood for Curiosity's First Drilling Campaign. Also, NASA Mars Rover Preparing to Drill Into First Martian Rock.

Spherules in Yellowknife Bay

This image from the right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows roughly spherical features. These are called spherules, and they are common in this stratigraphic unit, the Sheepbed Unit, which defines the lower part of the sequences of strata exposed in "Yellowknife Bay." These features are interpreted as concretions, implying they formed in water that percolated through pores in the sediment. Spherical concretions have previously been discovered in other rocks on Mars.

Mastcam obtained these images on the 139th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's surface operations (December 25, 2012). The image has been white-balanced to show what the rock would look like if it were on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Yellowknife Bay Veins and Concretions

The right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this view of the lower stratigraphy at "Yellowknife Bay" inside Gale Crater on Mars. The rectangle superimposed on the left image shows the location of the enlarged portion on the right. In the right image, white arrows point to veins (including some under the overhang), and black arrows point to concretions (small spherical concentrations of minerals). Both veins and concretions strongly suggest precipitation of minerals from water.

The scale bar in the left image is 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) long. The scale bar in the right image is 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) long.

Mastcam recorded this view in the morning of the 137th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's surface operations (December 24, 2012). The image has been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Note: For more information, see PIA16701: View from Inside 'Yellowknife Bay'.