At 00:48:40 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this detail of a rock just partially cleaned by Curiosity’s rotating wire brush.
The photo was taken from a distance of 25.52 cm with a definition of 0.102 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 16.21 cm X 12.05 cm.
Note how the cleaned area has a much bluer coloration than the uncleaned rock. Note also how the removed material, accumulated partly around the brushed area, tends to aggregate forming little balls that look anything but dusty!
This material covering the rocks clearly has a tendency to stick together and compact in a very different way from normal dust consisting of simple crystals of purely mineral origin, which would otherwise tend to be easily removed by the wind, or worse still by dust storms which should exert a very erosive effect.
But then what makes that “material” so cohesive?
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/711806/ https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02574/mhli/2574MH0001900010903877C00_DXXX.jpg
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