Finally, FINALLY, I’m able to make a decent colour view of the most interesting area of The Chocolate Hills…! Please click on the image below to bring up a full size version…

That’s something, isn’t it? All that flaky, crusty material on the top? Let’s take an even closer look at that…

What IS that stuff? Well, the common belief is that it is “fracture fill”, that’s material that was deposited inside cracks in the rock at some point – when they were underwater, perhaps, in the deep, distant past of this part of Mars – and were then exposed when the rock cracked open, revealing the layers of different minerals within. That would back up what we’re seeing on this image, and other images of these rocks: a layer of bluish-grey material sandwiched between layers of harder, more yellowy rocky material. Fascinating whatever it is!

A couple more 3D views for you all to (hopefully!) enjoy… Again, click on the images to bring up larger sized ones…

Finally, a close in look at the layers on the top of this rock. Not brilliant quality, I know, but still interesting…