NASA on Oct. 19 highlighted a Curiosity panorama of wind-carved ridges on Mount Sharp, giving scientists a closer look at a rock layer whose origin they have yet to determine.
Curiosity captured six frames with its Mastcam on Aug. 11, the rover's 4,982nd Martian day, or sol. The images were sent to Earth and assembled into a panorama that NASA first released Oct. 6. NASA described it as its most detailed view to date of the distant cliffs.
Curiosity began climbing Mount Sharp in 2014. The mountain rises 3 miles (5 kilometers), and the ridged rock band covers roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) of its northwestern side. The ridges are yardangs, formations carved by wind.
Blue tones remain visible near the rover because NASA did not apply the color adjustment it generally uses for Mastcam images. The agency said that choice preserved the appearance of the morning scene.
Mount Sharp's stacked rocks contain evidence of ancient lakes and streams followed by drier conditions. NASA's image record says erosion may have removed part of that sequence before the yardang-bearing layer formed, leaving a possible gap in the mountain's record of environmental change.
Wind explains the ridges' present shape, but the material that formed their layer remains uncertain. NASA said ancient volcanic ash is one possibility. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the layer “looks out of place.”
Before Curiosity can investigate the cliffs, its route takes it through rock rich in sulfates and carbonates, which NASA associates with ancient drying. Mission scientists hope to reach the base of the yardangs sometime in 2027, when the rover could use its robotic arm to examine the material.
