We reached out to NASA who explained that the “ventifacted nodules” as they are known, are bits of rock that have been carved by wind.
“Often, the odd-shaped rocks have their origin in the ancient past, when liquid water seeped through cracks in the rock, bringing minerals along with them,” said Andrew Good with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. “These minerals were harder than the rock around them, so the wind eroded everything away except the minerals.”
Curiosity spotted these finger-like rocks with its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on May 15, 2022.
The rocks were found on Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall mountain that Curiosity has been climbing since 2014.
Source: Fox 26 News
