NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove over a rock in the Gediz Vallis channel on May 30 and discovered yellow sulfur crystals inside. This odorless elemental sulfur only forms in a narrow range of conditions that scientists haven’t associated with the history of this location.
Surprisingly enough, Curiosity found an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one it crushed. This discovery is just one of many that Curiosity has made while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall Mount Sharp. Scientists believe the channel was carved by flows of liquid water and debris that left a ridge of boulders and sediment extending 2 miles down the mountainside below.
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Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert. It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
