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Major Elemental Oxides Comparison Graphs

The following graphs compare elemental oxides of over 60 local volcanoes, the Frass rock, and several Martian points as measured by the Pathfinder mission. For the Frass rock, I have plotted five points. The first is called "rock" and is a sample that was taken from the interior as a core sample. The sample "red rock" was taken from the exterior of the rock in the middle of the "red" streak that runs through the rock. The "sand1" sample represents a collection of the smallest particles that exist in the sandy mixture. The sand was vibrated to separate out the larger particles and most of the volcanic material. Most of this material is clear in color, but there does appear to be very small particles that are colored and may be very fine pieces of lava. The "sand2" sample was taken from a spot near the large crevice in the rock. This sample was taken in a vein of sand that was exposed when I took one of the very first samples of the rock more than a year ago. The sample was taken by using a pick to dislodge about a gram of material, the minimum necessary for the test. The "sand3" sample was taken from a petri dish, which contained a representative sample of material that has fallen out of the rock since I have been taking samples, including the debris of once living things. The graphs are presented in no particular order.

The most interesting aspect of all of these graphs is the linear nature of all the plots.  What this means is that all the material from each sample came from the same source material, but each was "worked" by volcanism to different degrees.   I believe this is highly indicative of Mars and not Earth.  On Earth, there is so much energy available within the planet, that everything on the surface is mixing, eventually, with every other thing.  On Mars, a much smaller planet, there wasn't as much energy available and so the volcanism was much more local.  Proof of this is the large and stable volcanic systems visible on Mars.  A rock like mine would be created by the side vents of a larger volcano.  Thus the sandy material from the Frass rock was probably created in the caldera of the volcano where it underwent numerous heatings through the years.  In combinations with water, this material was broken down into sand and clay sized particles, some of which washed down the mountain and were distributed along the way.

By the time the Frass rock was first forming 50 million years ago, the major portion of the volcano had already gone dormant.  But the energy underneath the volcano was not all used and some continued until at least 13 million years ago when the gray rock was formed.  These vents shifted with time much like vents on terrestrial volcanoes do.   It just so happened that these vents appeared in the same watercourse that had previously emptied the caldera of the volcano.

Below is a candidate volcano on Mars for the origin of the Frass meteorite.   Notice the watercourse, the main caldera and the numerous apparent vents that continue down the side of the volcano, parallel to the watercourse.  It looks to me like the volcanic activity is still continuing until today.