BALTIMORE, Nov. 3 (UPI) — Scientists believe acid fog deformed rocks on the surface of Mars. On Monday, planetary scientist Shoshanna Cole presented her hypothesis to attendees at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
Cole arrived at her findings while studying a group of Martian outcroppings known as the Watchtower Class. The layer of bedrock stretches across much of the planet — exposed in different places, billions of years of geologic history trapped in its layers.
“The special thing about Watchtower Class is that it’s very widespread and we see it in different locations,” Cole said in a press release. “As far as we can tell, it’s part of the ground there.”
While studying a section of the outcroppings on the Cumberland Ridge and the Husband Hill summit, Cole noticed that rocks revealed to be geochemically identical appeared quite varied structurally, suggesting the rocks had been exposed to a corrosive or reactive agent to varying degrees.
Testing showed that iron oxidation had occurred to varying degrees, and that the rocks’ crystalline structure had been compromised. Portions of the rock had become more amorphous and developed knobby protuberances.
Cole hypothesized an ancient sheet of acidic fog — created by the eruptions of ancient Martian volcanoes — could explain the textural and structural anomalies. As the volcanic smog touched the rocks, Cole theorized, its composition was corroded and a gel formed. When the acidic water evaporated, a cementing agent was left behind, forming the knob-like agglomerations.
“So nothing is being added or taken away, but it was changed,” Cole explained. “This would have happened in tiny amounts over a very long time. There’s even one place where you see the cementing agent healing a fracture. It’s pretty awesome. I was pretty happy when I found that one.”
Previous research in Earthbound laboratories showed rocks designed to mimic ancient Martian basalt lose their crystalline structure and take on the same amorphous texture when exposed to sulfuric and hydrochloric acids.
But why were some portions of the small region of outcroppings more augmented than others?
Cole says the differentiation among the corroded rocks is explained by their orientation relative to the sun. The shadier sides of steep slopes would have hosted the acidic gel for longer, while the acidic fog affecting the flatter, sunnier portions would have been evaporated by the sun’s rays more quickly.
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