Question Could this be a fossil?

[t32o]

I found this image, which looks like a fossilized shell of some sort. But it's on Mars. I'm trying to figure out what we can say (scientifically) one way or another, how it would be formed
geologically.





https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/n/075/2N133025435EFF21CEP1950L0M1.HTML
https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/n/075/2N133028174EFF2200P1827R0M1.HTML

 

[Gringoz]

I found this image, which looks like a fossilized shell of some sort. But it's on Mars. I'm trying to figure out what we can say (scientifically) one way or another, how it would be formed
geologically.

View attachment 626

View attachment 629

https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/n/075/2N133025435EFF21CEP1950L0M1.HTML
https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/2/n/075/2N133028174EFF2200P1827R0M1.HTML

Looks like a stratified rock

 

[Gringoz]

don't
see
a dam
thing
WHAT shell. what KIND of shell. idiot

I see what he sees, it seems to be a sedimentary rock upturned. He wants to see a shell so he does

 

[gsimonel]

The lines in the rock does remind one of a shell. But there is no reason to assume that a shell would be on the surface of Mars.

There are many physical processes that could create lines and bubbles in a rock like that, such as sedimentation, trapped carbon dioxide gas or different chemical mixtures solidifying at different temperatures in cooling magma. If you look at the rock in the bottom right corner of the top photo, you can see similar structures, yet that is clearly not a shell. But it is very difficult to determine what caused those structures from just a photo. That is why so many scientists are hoping for a sample-and-return mission to Mars: to clear up questions like these.

 

[Gringoz]

The lines in the rock does remind one of a shell. But there is no reason to assume that a shell would be on the surface of Mars.

There are many physical processes that could create lines and bubbles in a rock like that, such as sedimentation, trapped carbon dioxide gas or different chemical mixtures solidifying at different temperatures in cooling magma. If you look at the rock in the bottom right corner of the top photo, you can see similar structures, yet that is clearly not a shell. But it is very difficult to determine what caused those structures from just a photo. That is why so many scientists are hoping for a sample-and-return mission to Mars: to clear up questions like these.

The photo depicts an upset sedimentary rock formation