# Out-of-Place Rock on Mars **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152 "2024-06-21T12:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/1 "2024-06-21T12:13:29Z")
I saw this on Daily Kos. The image is startling. In the middle of a field of black basalt rocks atop the red Martian sand, there sits an anomalously white boulder. There are no other similar rocks or outcroppings anywhere nearby. It looks as if some spaceship dropped it in the middle of a typical Martian scene, maybe as a prank to puzzle scientists from earth. > [@](#): > > According to Perseverance’s instrumental analysis, the whitish matrix material seems to be mainly plagioclase feldspar and the much darker crystals are mostly pyroxenes. But to these old geologist’s eyes, this rock looks amazingly like a common continental rock here on Earth, granodiorite – a type of rock that simply shouldn’t be there on Mars. > > Martian geology and geological history just got a lot more interesting! > **[Something New Found on Mars](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/20/2247685/-Something-New-Found-on-Mars?utm_campaign=trending)** > > The intrepid little Mars rover Perseverance was making its way across the Martian landscape when it came across this remarkable scene recently as detailed by JPL: Virtually all of the rocks on Mars encountered thus far have either been your... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/2 "2024-06-21T12:36:26Z")
There are little chips of white rock elsewhere in the same image. Hard to tell if they’re the same material as the big one. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/3 "2024-06-21T13:18:32Z")
Oh man, I’ve been looking for that, I thought I lost it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/4 "2024-06-21T15:06:01Z")
The colors of the image have apparently been fiddled with, but I doubt if the folks t JPL have falsified anything. From the JPL site: > [@](#): > > Others on the team wonder if the boulder, which stands about 18 inches (45 centimeters) wide and 14 inches (35 centimeters) tall, had been created far beyond the walls of Jezero and transported there by swift Martian waters eons ago. I had the same thought. In the absence of extraterrestrial pranksters it seems hard to come up with another way that boulder can be there, isolated from anything of comparable size and color. ![Standing Out on Mars](https://d2pn8kiwq2w21t.cloudfront.net/images/PIA26333.width-1024.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/5 "2024-06-21T15:25:00Z")
Probably put there by the folks behind the mysterious monoliths here on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/6 "2024-06-21T15:46:28Z")
_Promise me, Red. If you ever get out…find that spot. At the base of that hill, you’ll find a rock that has no business in a Martian landscape. Piece of white granodiorite. There’s something buried under it I want you to have._ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/7 "2024-06-21T15:56:18Z")
^perfect ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/8 "2024-06-21T16:02:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The colors of the image have apparently been fiddled with, but I doubt if the folks t JPL have falsified anything. > > From the JPL site: > > > [@](#): > > > > Others on the team wonder if the boulder, which stands about 18 inches (45 centimeters) wide and 14 inches (35 centimeters) tall, had been created far beyond the walls of Jezero and transported there by swift Martian waters eons ago. > > I had the same thought. In the absence of extraterrestrial pranksters it seems hard to come up with another way that boulder can be there, isolated from anything of comparable size and color. > > [https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26333-standing-out-on-mars-mount-washburn](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26333-standing-out-on-mars-mount-washburn) My first thought was that it was a glacial erratic, which is totally impossible. Looking at the close up, I see a very rough surface, which make me discount a water bourn deposit. This is something new and unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/9 "2024-06-21T16:06:14Z")
Which rock uses sunscreen? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/10 "2024-06-21T16:26:29Z")
Meteorites are common on Mars. [https://geology.com/articles/mars-meteorites/](https://geology.com/articles/mars-meteorites/) Maybe they’ve found their first lunar. [https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/education/diskdetails.cfm?disk=58&class=Anorthosite](https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/education/diskdetails.cfm?disk=58&class=Anorthosite) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/11 "2024-06-21T17:53:16Z")
My first thought was that it came from somewhere else on Mars and got there via meteor impact ejecta (of a different rock). Since that impact could be quite a ways off, where the debris landed would be seemingly random. OTOH, you still have some splainin’ to do as to how this type of rock formed on Mars regardless of where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/12 "2024-06-21T17:56:22Z")
It’s also jagged-edged. I’d expect that any process that could transport a rock long distances would also tend to smooth it out some. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/13 "2024-06-21T18:54:06Z")
Some of those other rocks might not belong with the rest but they’re not white. Gray rocks never get picked first. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/14 "2024-06-21T19:13:42Z")
There’s nothing out of place about [rock on Mars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAUuqpFLLvQ&t=0m25s). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/15 "2024-06-21T19:23:07Z")
Isn’t the real question why a rock that is only 18" x 14" is being called a boulder? New Englanders built thousands of miles of rock walls out of stones that size. We have some of these anomalies on earth. > ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/16 "2024-06-21T19:48:33Z")
It qualifies by definition: > [@](#): > > [In geology, a **boulder** (or rarely **bowlder** ) is a rock fragment with size greater than 25.6 cm (10.1 in) in diameter.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder) Colloquially it usually does mean something much larger. Typically something a coyote can drop on a roadrunner from a projecting cliff if the cliff doesn’t collapse under the weight of the coyote and the ‘boulder’. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/17 "2024-06-21T19:50:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There are no other similar rocks or outcroppings anywhere nearby Depends what you mean by similar, and how close you mean by “nearby”. This isn’t the first unusual white rock found in Jezero Crater: > **[Thousands of strange white rocks found on Mars. Will they ever be brought to...](https://www.space.com/thousands-mysterious-rocks-mars-sample-return)** > > "These are very unusual rocks and we're trying to figure out what's been going on." Also, I don’t know what that old geologist means by “simply shouldn’t be there” - granodiorite occurs in layered igneous complexes like the Bushveld on Earth, and Perseverance had already found other characteristic intrusive rocks of that sort of structure (cumulates) in Jezero previously: > **[Nasa's Perseverance Mars rover finds its 'baseline' rocks](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59677383)** > > Nasa's latest robot looks to have identified the oldest rocks at its Jezero Crater landing site. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/18 "2024-06-22T01:07:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Isn’t the real question why a rock that is only 18" x 14" is being called a boulder? Well, remember, Mars is only half the diameter of Earth, so all the boulders have to be scaled down, too. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/out-of-place-rock-on-mars/1003152/19 "2024-06-22T01:43:30Z")
Somebody forgot to tell that to Olympus Mons.