At 09:06:48 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this very close detail of a truly extraordinary rock!
The photo was taken from a distance of only 3.83 cm with a definition of 0.021 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 3.32 cm X 2.47 cm.
Observing the spherules captured in this image, one is led to note the extraordinary similarities with terrestrial ooids. In fact, some of these spherules are broken and / or perforated and clearly show a structure of concentric shells with a central cavity, in the right margin of the image you can also see the ooids from the curious appearance of “pitted olive”!
Ooids are small spheroidal “coated” sedimentary grains, usually composed of calcium carbonate, but sometimes composed of iron or phosphate minerals. Ooids usually form on the sea floor, most commonly in shallow tropical seas (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooid).
To show colors more similar to what the human eye would see, I subjected the image to white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation.
Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02660/mhli/2660MH0003370011001319C00_DXXX.jpg
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