paulhammond5155

what altitude are these glaciers?

They mention the use of MOLA data to establish the ground position.... However I've not found any mention of the actual MOLA elevations for any of the points measured.

DOH.... Edited the direction.....

Heading South towards some previously explored terrain. IIRC geologists sometimes call this a walkabout :)

From The rover's Blog: The plan was to image three rocks the MAHLI camera during that sol :-

1. Bedrock target "La Tranquita" - It's not that target as that was brushed with the rover's DRT.
2. A plate-like rock formation, target named “Aqua Dulce.”
3. A target with more complex rock structures dubbed “Paposo” I believe this is the small target in that MAHLI I posted earlier.

As for its composition it is too early to tell. This is a near record elevation for the rover having climbed since landing 2012, so these are new (to the rover) rock types. The orbital data from the satellites suggested that this region is filled with sedimentary rocks a little over 3 billion years old and that the 'Boxwork Structures the rover is now exploring has large mineral filled fractures that created by mineral rich ground waters, the rover team are currently investigating the rocks to obtain the ground truth, and comparing it with the orbital data.

Here's the extract from the blog for the afternoon of sol 4608 - "Curiosity’s arm will reach out to brush the dust from the bedrock target “La Tranquita,” then observe it with the MAHLI microscopic imager and APXS. MAHLI and APXS will also investigate plate-like rock formations at target “Aqua Dulce.” A third target with more complex rock structures dubbed “Paposo,” after a natural monument along the Pacific Coast of northern Chile, will be imaged only by MAHLI. The next morning will include another targeted science block. Curiosity will then drive away toward the next viewpoint in the boxwork terrain of Mars.

These are both raw images (no processing)

text from the blog

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image of the boulders along the contact at Westport, using its Mastcam-Z Left Camera, one of a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast. The rover acquired the image on July 10, 2025 — Sol 1560, or Martian day 1,560 of the Mars 2020 mission — at the local mean solar time of 11:23:38. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Written by Melissa Rice, Professor of Planetary Science at Western Washington University

Following a short break for the July 4th holiday, Perseverance drove westward to a site called “Westport,” where the clay-bearing “Krokodillen” unit meets an olivine-bearing rock formation. It is possible that the olivine-rich rocks are an intrusive igneous unit, meaning they could have formed when molten magma from deep within Mars got pushed upwards and cooled under the surface. If that’s the case, Westport could preserve a dramatic moment in Mars’ history when hot, molten material intruded into existing rock formations.

Those intrusive processes are common on Earth, and the heat of the intruding magma can fundamentally alter the surrounding geology through a process called “contact metamorphism.” The heat from the intrusion will “bake” nearby rocks, creating new minerals and potentially new environments for microbial life. Conversely, the intrusive rocks get rapidly “chilled” where they meet preexisting solid rock formations.

At Westport, Perseverance is looking for evidence that the Krokodillen rocks at the contact were baked, and that the olivine-bearing rocks at the contact were chilled. Images from the Mastcam-Z instrument reveal that the contact is littered with intriguing dark, rubbly rocks alongside lighter-toned, smooth boulders. Both rock types are proving challenging to study.

The dark fragments are too small and rough for Perseverance’s standard abrasion techniques, but the rover cleared off the surface of a rock called “Holyrood Bay” with its gas Dust Removal Tool (gDRT). Perseverance also tried to abrade a nearby boulder named “Drake’s Point,” but the rock shifted to the side, causing the abrasion to stop short. The science questions here are compelling enough, however, that Perseverance will keep trying to look within the rocks at this important boundary.

He usually managed to hide when cameras are operating :)

I didn’t know Crow T. Robot was along for the ride!

Tech support role :)

thought this was satisfactory at first.

From the data we now have, the rover has returned to the site it reached 10 sols earlier.

Cool :)

or are they (very) large unweathered grains in the rock’s interior?

Very hard for me to tell if they're surface material or chunky grains from this image, I'd wager that the onboard instruments would be able to differentiate, if they decide to deploy them (fingers crossed)

I'll be honest I did not think that small float rock had enough mass to be abraded in any fashion when I saw it move. I just expected a few surface scratches :) Gives me confidence they'll attempt future abrasions on other interesting small float rocks they encounter along the notional path.

It would be nice to see further investigations in this 'cobble field', to see if there are different rock types present before they drive away :)

Catching up after 2 days off Mars (trip to our highlands) :)