At 01:13:16 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) imaged this very strange Martian rock with strikingly contrasting features.
The photo was taken from a distance of 11.35 cm with a definition of 0.048 mm/pixel, covering an area of 7.47 cm X 5.57 cm.
At first glance it would seem to be a volcanic rock with the typical porosity produced by gas escaping from molten magma. Looking more carefully, however, it is noted that the rock itself is finely laminated, with layers between 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm thick, a typical structure of sedimentary rocks if not even of stromatolites or a particular type of sedimentary rocks belonging to the group of non-particle bioconstructed limestone due to the activity of photosynthetic benthic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria or blue algae (see https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatoliti).
Is this therefore a rock of biological origin?
I really hope that some geologist can give us a valid explanation on the origin of this strange rock that personally I would define in a very improper way as a sort of “geological platypus”!
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/raw_images/696676/ https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02564/mhli/2564MH0007890000903682R00_DXXX.jpg
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