In recent days, the Mars Rover Curiosity deviated from its programmed route to examine a rock particularly rich in silica. It’s a material composed of silicon and oxygen common in terrestrial rocks in the form of quartz. On Mount Sharp, where Curiosity is working, on its way it took a sample near the area called “Marias Pass”. The results of the analysis were so interesting that the mission team decided to turn it back.

Silica-rich Martian rocks have become very interesting for two main reasons. One reason is related to geology because their existence is one of the clues that suggest that Mars once had a continental crust. Another reason is related to the fact that this type of rocks may contain organic materials if once have existed on the red planet.

An article recently published in the journal “Nature Geoscience” describes a research on Martian rocks analyzed by the Mars Rover Curiosity. According to the researchers, the presence of silica-rich rocks indicate a more dynamic geologic history than previously thought. It’s possible that also from this point of view the ancient Mars was similar to Earth.

When the Curiosity mission team analyzed the data collected by the rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instruments in a target called “Elk”, they noted a high presence of silicon, one of the components of silica, and hydrogen. The composition was found to be sufficiently interesting to turn back Curiosity, which had since moved on in its programmed route.

46 meters (151 feet) may seem a short length but at the very low speed held by the Mars Rover Curiosity going back that much means that there’s something really interesting. A fragment of rock called “Lamoose” was analyzed more deeply using the APXS (Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer) instrument and the MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager) camera.

It’s impossible to say whether the Mars Rover Curiosity will find any organic materials in Lamoose or other rocks particularly rich in silica. Even if there were life form on Mars there’s no guarantee that any traces remained even in ideal conditions such as in silica. It’s an intriguing research and Roger Wiens from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument, pointed out that one never knows what to expect on Mars.

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