A new collection of photos from NASA's Perseverance rover reveals the presence of a cobblestone on Mars. The rock looks balanced perched on top of another rock that is quite high. Surprisingly, the stone did not fall.
This photo was taken at Mars' Jezero Crater by Mastcam-Z right of Perseverance at Sol 466, June 12 Earth time. This image was immediately sent to NASA to ask what rock it was, and why it got to Mars.
James Rice, a geologist on the Mastcam-Z team from the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University later explained that these rocks are balancing rocks, sometimes called Precariously Balanced Rocks (PBR) with a variety of sizes, ranging from small rock sizes to formations. hundreds of feet high. This stone is naturally formed and not too extraordinary.
"Often the offset rock is actually connected to the larger bedrock by its trunk or base. The Martian offset rock shown is found in a Rockytop outcrop near the delta bottom and most likely formed after extensive aeolian (wind) and/or chemical erosion carved it out of the bedrock local," he explained as quoted from Gizmodo as seen (Monday (20/6/2022).
He explained that these types of features are more than just a geological curiosity, they are even called 'reverse seismometers' because the presence of PBR makes it possible to measure earthquakes/earthquakes that do not occur.
"If these rocks are still balanced, then the ground hasn't moved enough to knock them down. So we can use this feature to study the seismic history of an area," he said.
Around the same time this image was captured, the Perseverance rover also got a photo of a piece of shiny material tucked into some rock, and NASA believes it could be part of the rover's thermal blanket from its 2021 landing.
Perseverance's catch is always interesting. Previously, we have also received reports of strange 'sightings' from Mars, there are rocks that look like squirrels, spoons, doors, and more.
Eyesight can play tricks on us, optical illusions often occur. Therefore, findings like this are always interesting to explore further.