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Re: Meteorites on Mars

Hi Ed:
I added a few of my comments on Mars to yours. Ron can probably add a bunch
more. Take care!

E.P. Grondine wrote:

> If you take a look at the Pathfinder pictures,
> you will notice how all the larger rocks look like they have been hit
> by a shotgun blast. Since there is no one with a shotgun around [ :)
> ], it is more likely that these have been hit by very small pieces
> exploding outward from impacts.

Probably not.  The area Pathfinder landed in was a flood plain, and a large
one at that.  The rocks on the surface were eroded by water and wind
abrasion, similar to sand-blasting.  You can actually see small dunes
forming in the sand near the bases of most rocks, this is a clear indicator
of wind.

>       The smaller rocks in the Pathfinder pictures look jagged, and
> most likely they were thrown out of craters when different impactors
> hit around the Pathfinder landing site. Pathfinder landed near several
> large craters, and immediately adjacent to some smaller ones.

  This may be a possibility, however, most of the jagged rocks appear to be
in the "shadow" of a larger rock.  This would inhibit water flow and wind
abrasion over the small rock, thus reducing the amount of erosion taking
place. Furthermore, the smaller rocks have less surface area than the large
rocks, also reducing the amount of wind that travels over them.

>       You will also see a red dust on everything, which
> was most likely formed by the impact on Mars of iron and stony iron
> asteroids.

What is your evidence?  The surface of Mars is oxidized, thus the red
color.  The minerals that oxidized probably came from the volcanic rocks,
which appear to be a large part of martian geology.  Water probably played
and important role in the oxidation of the martian surface as well.

>       As for the folks at JPL, don't worry about them spotting
> anything.  They are just starting to understand that the dominant
> geological process on
> Mars for the last several billion years has been the
> impact of asteroids and comets, and not water erosion or wind erosion.

Huh?? Ron?

>  NASA has this thing about sending men to Mars, and is hoping that
> there is a lot of water there so that they can do this, so it is
> likely that the understanding of what their pictures show will come
> very slowly to the people at JPL, and also that they will be very
> reluctant to acknowledge it.
>       In closing, my guess is that if you were going to try to collect
> something of value on Mars, fossils would be a better bet than
> meteorites.
>
>                                    Best wishes -
>                                        Ed



--
Matt Morgan
Mile High Meteorites
http://www.mhmeteorites.com
P.O.Box 151293
Lakewood, CO 80215-9293
"For a geologist, life is a field trip"


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