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https://gizmodo.com/nasas-curiosity-rover-uncovers-trove-of-yellow-crystals-on-mars-2000476772>
"For nearly 10 years, NASA’s four-wheeled robot has been climbing the foothills
of Mount Sharp, a tall mountain on Mars that stands above an ancient crater,
uncovering mysteries with each of its layers. In its latest discovery, the
Martian explorer stumbled upon a field of rocks made of pure sulfur, a chemical
element that could hold precious clues to the Red Planet’s watery past.
The Curiosity rover recently drove over a rock, accidentally cracking it open.
Inside were shiny yellow crystals, which scientists later determined to be
elemental sulfur, NASA said. Although sulfur-based minerals (a mix of sulfur
with other materials) have been found on Mars before, this is the first
discovery of rocks made of pure sulfur. And there could be a whole bunch of
them on Mars, but scientists aren’t sure how they formed.
“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the
desert,” Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we
have to explain it.”
Pure sulfur is tasteless and odorless, and it’s naturally found in volcanic
regions as a result of the oxidation of hydrogen-sulfide. But this particular
region that Curiosity has been exploring has shown no signs of past volcanic
activity. Pure sulfur can also form through the oxidation of reduced sulfur
compounds by way of microbial activity. In that case, the discovery of sulfur
on Mars could be useful in the search for ancient microbial life on the Red
Planet."
Via Susan ****
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
