Detail of Discoloration Pattern Seen by Curiosity

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Caption:

This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover reveals details of a bedrock discoloration pattern at a site between "Marias Pass" and "Bridger Basin." The discoloration is not associated with individual layers. It crosses layers and shows clear horizontal boundaries to the darker toned bedrock. This suggests it is related to alteration by fluids that flowed through fractures and permeated into the bedrock.

The image was taken by the right-eye (telephoto) camera of the rover's Mast Camera instrument on Sept. 2, 2015, during the mission's 1,092nd Martian day, or sol.

Background Info:

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.

For more information about the Mars Science Laboratory mission and the mission's Curiosity rover, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .

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