TredLightly
Registered Senior Member
I have attempted not to allow myself to be drawn into this ridiculous debate, but I feel that I must at least respond to Fluid's last post; If only to set some facts straight...and attempt a recovery from such misrepresentation, or ignorance of information.
Olivine is nothing special. Yes, it does contain a large percentage of Oxygen. However, oxygen is not a rarity in the Solar System...only an oxygen rich atmosphere is.The mineral itself is common on Earth, and typically found in volcanic sediments. Even though there are no known Volcanoes in the immediate region of the rover...there are plenty of extinct/dormant ones scattered across the face of Mars (including the largest known Volcano in the solar system). Given the brittle nature of the Olivine mineral and the scope of Martian dust storms, it is quite rational to conclude that the mineral was transported over a very large region by the Martian wind (if not, this would throw some evidence against the warmer, wetter scenario)....Also, there was no "drilling" needed to locate this mineral. It readily lies just on the Martian surface and was identified with the The Alpha-Particle X-ray Spectrometer and the Mossbauer Spectrometer attached to the rovers robotic arm. Furthermore, there has been no drilling by the rover as of this date (or at least this morning). The mission operators have yet to decide whether or not they should use the RAT (Rock Abrasion Tool) on the rock dubbed "Adirondack" (and just to point out, they identified these minerals in the Martion soil, not within the rock itself. We have already concluded that the rock is made of Basalt.)
As far as the soil that is, in your words, "stronger and more cohesive than they expected"...Please continue reading the latest information coming from the rover and mission scientists. Along with Olivine; Silicon, Sulfur, Chlorine, Calcium, Iron, and Nickel have been detected as well. Early speculations are that this "cohesion" is the result of sulfur and chlorine, two components of salts, holding the miniscule grains together by static attraction. Whether these salts came to Gusev Crater by water or Volcanic activity has yet to be learned.
Olivine is nothing special. Yes, it does contain a large percentage of Oxygen. However, oxygen is not a rarity in the Solar System...only an oxygen rich atmosphere is.The mineral itself is common on Earth, and typically found in volcanic sediments. Even though there are no known Volcanoes in the immediate region of the rover...there are plenty of extinct/dormant ones scattered across the face of Mars (including the largest known Volcano in the solar system). Given the brittle nature of the Olivine mineral and the scope of Martian dust storms, it is quite rational to conclude that the mineral was transported over a very large region by the Martian wind (if not, this would throw some evidence against the warmer, wetter scenario)....Also, there was no "drilling" needed to locate this mineral. It readily lies just on the Martian surface and was identified with the The Alpha-Particle X-ray Spectrometer and the Mossbauer Spectrometer attached to the rovers robotic arm. Furthermore, there has been no drilling by the rover as of this date (or at least this morning). The mission operators have yet to decide whether or not they should use the RAT (Rock Abrasion Tool) on the rock dubbed "Adirondack" (and just to point out, they identified these minerals in the Martion soil, not within the rock itself. We have already concluded that the rock is made of Basalt.)
As far as the soil that is, in your words, "stronger and more cohesive than they expected"...Please continue reading the latest information coming from the rover and mission scientists. Along with Olivine; Silicon, Sulfur, Chlorine, Calcium, Iron, and Nickel have been detected as well. Early speculations are that this "cohesion" is the result of sulfur and chlorine, two components of salts, holding the miniscule grains together by static attraction. Whether these salts came to Gusev Crater by water or Volcanic activity has yet to be learned.