Please visit this interesting web site.
This does not mean that the image at The Cydonia Imperative is of liesegang
weathering, or that that method of enhancement discovered a type of liesegang weathering
formation. Although it might have discovered such a thing. It means that the
enhancement resembles some kind of weathering process that could have happened on
Mars. It could have happened in that polygonal terrain, in those fissures and/or
canyons; the harder material remained in a rib-like pattern, and the softer,
more easily eroded stuff washed away during a season of thaw.
In black and white
Closer
It might look more Martian - more MGS/MOC-ish - in black and white.
This rock has an archeological look to it - as if made by intelligent design.
It looks like part of an ancient wall, with patterns carved
into blocks of limestone or sandstone. But it is not.
Cementation is an important part of how loose materials become rock. The three most
common cements are silica, carbonates, and iron oxide. Calcium carbonate is
probably the most familiar cementing agent. We use forms of it in our everyday
building materials. As we can see from the geology of caves, calcite minerals have a very active, dynamic cycle of
precipitation and dissolution. Silica cement is very hard and forms at great depths. Iron oxide cement comes from
weathered iron-rich rocks. Water containing the minerals in solution percolates
through the vacant spaces in the sediment. Eventually the material precipitates
out of the water and acts as an adhesive, connecting all the particles together.
Weathering is a principle factor in how rocks change form and chemical structure.
No doubt, all manner of shapes and forms can result from the cementing of soft
sediment, especially if other geologic forces also act upon it.
I gather, from the information provided by the Smithsonian Institute, iron-rich water
entered the cracks and pore spaces of an existing rock. The iron precipitated out of
solution, further hardening the area and altering the structure there. Over time, the less
hard, non-iron and possibly calcite rich portions, of the rock eroded, forming the liesegang
patterns.
Yes, all manner of shape and form.
This beautiful creation is also at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Title:
Sand Grains Cememted with a Twist
The Smithsonian write-up: "Water and wind deposited quartz sand along an ocean beach about 35 million years
ago, and other sediment buried the sand. Later, the overlying rock was eroded and the sand
exposed. Withn the past 400,000 years, circulating groundwater dissolved quartz from some areas
of the exposed sand and redeposited it in others. There the quartz cemented loose sand grains
into sinuous shapes."
Closeup
I have gone from geology to giant life forms and back to geology again. Time and
time again our own planet has sculpted and remade itself. Over great expanses of
time various creatures have dominated the seas and land. Some of these were very
large. If flesh and blood life ever existed on Mars, it is possible that it
experienced and age of dinosaurs similar to that on Earth. However, life on Mars
would have developed according to the Martian environment. Mars may not have been
able to support creatures like Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it may have been able to
sustain very large worms or crinoid-like animals. We are only beginning to
discover and understand what exists far below the surface of Earth and what thrives
in our own deepest oceans - environments of unbearable temperatures, lethal
pressures and poison atmospheres, strange and completely alien to ourselves.
If science accepts the possibility of microscopic life on Mars, it should
be at least open to the possibility that higher/larger forms of life could exist
there. One has to examine all the possibilities. Geology offers many answers.
Still this is all speculation - what if scenarios.
It is not easy to come to a final conclusion when no one has directly
experienced the geology (and paleontology) of Mars. For now, when pondering the
mysteries of Mars, imagination mixed with the knowledge of how our own planet
works is one of the most powerful tools we have.
And now
