Mars

[Foggy]

Curiosity Cracked Open a Rock on Mars And Found a Huge Surprise

A rock on Mars has just spilled a surprising yellow treasure after Curiosity accidentally cracked through its unremarkable exterior.

When the rover rolled its 899-kilogram (1,982-pound) body over the rock, the rock broke open, revealing yellow crystals of elemental sulfur: brimstone. Although sulfates are fairly common on Mars, this is the first time sulfur has been found on the red planet in its pure elemental form.

What's even more exciting is that the Gediz Vallis Channel, where Curiosity found the rock, is littered with rocks that look suspiciously similar to the sulfur rock before it got fortuitously crushed – suggesting that, somehow, elemental sulfur may be abundant there in some places.

"Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert," says Curiosity project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

[RTH10260]

Fire and Brimstone? Where did I read about that? Does this mean someone else was on Mars a few years ago and angered some deity? Now where are all those female salt rocks

[Foggy]

The main thing I remember about sulfur is it smells like rotten eggs.


But the article says it's essential for all life (critical for several amino acids).

[Suranis]

Ya, mining and gathering it was a big industry in Roman times. Of course I cant remember what they used it for, so . The fact that it was found on the brims of Volcanic Craters earned it the Nickname "Brimstone."

[Sam the Centipede]

The main thing I remember about sulfur is it smells like rotten eggs.


But the article says it's essential for all life (critical for several amino acids).

Hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs. Elemental sulfur not so much.

Sulfur is also in the thiocyanate compounds that give brassicas (cabbage and its plamates) their characteristic bitter taste and especially the pong when cabbage is boiled too long.