Which Came First? Vug or Spherule?
Caption:
This image, taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a close-up of the region dubbed "El Capitan," which lies within the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. In the lower left, a spherule, or sphere-shaped grain, can be seen penetrating the interior of a small cavity called a vug. This "cross-cutting" relationship allows the relative timing of separate events to be established. In this case, the spherule appears to "invade" the vug, and therefore likely post-dates the vug. This suggests that the spherules may have been one of the last features to form within the outcrop.
Cataloging Keywords:
Name |
Value |
Additional Values |
Target |
Mars |
|
System |
|
|
Target Type |
Planet |
|
Mission |
Mars Exploration Rover (MER) |
|
Instrument Host |
Opportunity (MER-B) |
|
Host Type |
Rover |
|
Instrument |
Microscopic Imager (MI) |
|
Detector |
|
|
Extra Keywords |
Grayscale |
Acquisition Date |
|
Release Date |
2004-03-02 |
Date in Caption |
|
|
Image Credit |
NASA/JPL/US Geological Survey |
Source |
photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05481 |
Identifier |
PIA05481 |