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APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 4:06 am
by APOD Robot
Image Flat Rock Hills on Mars

Explanation: Why are there so many flat rocks on Mars? Some views of plains and hills on Mars show many rocks that are unusually flat when compared to rocks on Earth. One reason for this is a process that is common to both Mars and Earth: erosion. The carbon-dioxide wind on Mars can act like sandpaper when it blows around gritty Martian sand. This sand can create differential erosion, smoothing over some rocks, while wearing down the tops of other long-exposed stones. The featured image capturing several hills covered with flat-topped rocks was taken last month by NASA's Curiosity Rover on Mars. This robotic rover has now been rolling across Mars for ten years and has helped uncover many details of the wet and windy past of Earth's planetary neighbor. After taking this and other images, Curiosity carefully navigated stones and slippery sand to climb up Marker Band Valley.

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Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 9:29 am
by Lasse H
Couldn't one reason for the flat rocks be that they are flat because they are sedimentary rocks?

Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 2:25 pm
by VictorBorun
looks like bricks in the walls
Flat Rock Hills on Mars-.jpg
Flat Rock Hills on Mars-.jpg (13.65 KiB) Viewed 2157 times

Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 2:30 pm
by orin stepanek
FlatMars_CuriosityThompson_1080.jpg
One thing about flat rocks is that they could make good building
material! :mrgreen: :evil:

Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 5:10 pm
by MelvzLuster
We can build a good foundation for superstructures using those flat rocks or something beautiful that can be created by architectural design. Yeah! <3 O:) * (Y)

Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 7:56 pm
by VictorBorun
orin stepanek wrote: Tue May 02, 2023 2:30 pm FlatMars_CuriosityThompson_1080.jpg
One thing about flat rocks is that they could make good building
material! :mrgreen: :evil:
What I was trying to show were regular dotted horizontal rows that look like brickwork or maybe like windows in a large building or ship.
Here is that fragment in maximum resolution from flickr (click to zoom in)
Flat Rock 52814100597_78794a9009_o-.jpg
Flat Rock 52814100597_78794a9009_o-2.jpg

Re: APOD: Flat Rock Hills on Mars (2023 May 02)

Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 9:23 am
by VictorBorun
Pseudo colour to highlight numerous horizontal dotted lines
Flat Rock -3.jpg
Flat Rock -4.jpg
...
Click to view full size image 1 or image 2