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Which Came First? Vug or Spherule?
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Caption:
This image, taken by the microscopic imager onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a close-up of the region dubbed "El Capitan," which lies within the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum, Mars. In the lower left, a spherule, or sphere-shaped grain, can be seen penetrating the interior of a small cavity called a vug. This "cross-cutting" relationship allows the relative timing of separate events to be established. In this case, the spherule appears to "invade" the vug, and therefore likely post-dates the vug. This suggests that the spherules may have been one of the last features to form within the outcrop.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Mars | |
| System | ||
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Mars Exploration Rover (MER) | |
| Instrument Host | Opportunity (MER-B) | |
| Host Type | Rover | |
| Instrument | Microscopic Imager (MI) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Grayscale | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2004-03-02 | |
| Date in Caption | ||
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL/US Geological Survey | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05481 | |
| Identifier | PIA05481 | |
